Kurt,

 KW> I'm on the California coast; last weekend we had a freak dry lightning
 KW> storm that saw 11,000 bolts of lightning, which ended up causing
 KW> 300-something fires.  We have a 63,000 acre fire 5 miles away from us
 KW> burning now, with another 40,000 acres burning not that much farther
 KW> away. 77,000 people have been evacuated so far, and almost 25,000
 KW> structures are threatened.

  Some of these thunderstorms are prolific lightning producers. Portions
of Arkansas have been "drying out" lately, after a very wet spring and
early summer...but the remnants of what will probably be Hurricanes
Marco and Laura, will affect the region later this week...with threats
of tornadoes, flooding rain, strong winds, and intense lightning. Florida
may be the lightning capitol of the US, but Arkansas has to be a close
second!! Plus, some of the remants of hurricanes (like Ivan) that
affected Arkansas, were prolific tornado producers across the region.

 KW> As of this morning, it's 5% contained.

  Unfortunately, those wildfires, once they get started, take a long
time to get under control.

 KW> My heart goes out to the people in relocation shelters dealing with
 KW> the loss of their house and with being in public shelters during
 KW> Coronavirus and people with lung problems; the air is thick with smoke
 KW> and making it hard to breathe. I've got my kids at home and have them
 KW> starting their school year online, staying inside.

  You have to...it has become a double edged sword.

 KW> In heartening news, I'm seeing a lot of people offering to help,
 KW> especially with animals. There are a lot of horses around here, and
 KW> other people out of harms way are lining up to offer their trailers
 KW> and land to pick up and relocate horses. Others with trucks and vans
 KW> are offering to help evacuate people. I've got a bunch of gallon water
 KW> containers and am going to bring some down to an evacuation shelter
 KW> down the road from us. I might take a ride down the coast a bit
 KW> farther today to see if I can get out of the smoke for a little while.

  I saw where much of Nevada was under a Dense Smoke Advisory.

 KW> We have a SUV and a go bag packed and ready, just in case.

  I'm glad I'm not in Louisiana...where they could be hit by two
hurricanes (Marco and Laura) just 2 days apart.

Daryl

... New Restaurant On The Moon: Great Food, but No Atmosphere.
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