Monsoon conditions could bring dangerous dry lightning, wildfire risk to Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO -- The National Weather Service is closely monitoring current monsoon conditions over the Southwest that are expected to drift north into California's Central Coast and the Bay Area Monday and Tuesday and could lead to a slight chance of dangerous dry lightning storms.

While the weather service said that "confidence is low for dry lightning at this time," meteorologists also noted that such conditions are particularly worrisome during the region's current drought.
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"Lightning on dry fuels with no rainfall to quickly extinguish sparks can easily generate wildfires. In conjunction, thunderstorms can bring locally gusty and erratic winds, fanning flames quickly," the weather service said.

While the potential for such an event remains low and meteorologists say it won't be a repetition of the conditions that led to last year's massive wildfires, the weather service will be keeping a sharp eye on atmospheric developments over the next few days and will send out additional alerts as the pattern moves closer.
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