A line of thunderstorms produced hundreds of lightning strikes over the Ventana Wilderness this morning. While the lightning was accompanied, at least in places, by torrential rain, it is unclear whether the heavy rain was as widespread as the lightning.
The Black Cone rain gauge, in the center of the Ventana Wilderness, recorded a healthy .63 inches of rain, and over a tenth of an inch was recorded along the coast between Lucia and the Big Sur Valley. Unfortunately, gauges further north, like White Rock, Ponciano Ridge, Hastings and Los Padres Dam have, apparently, received less than a hundredth of an inch – and multiple lightning strikes have been detected in these areas.
Hopefully, any smokes that appear over the next few days can be extinguished quickly.
10:30 am Update: A new, more northerly, line of rain has brought .08 inches to the White Rock, Ponciano, and Los Padres Dam gauges during the past hour. All rain has now moved offshore, so let’s hope that was enough.
Noon Update: At least one of this morning’s lightning strikes has already resulted in fire. Forest Service crews are currently putting out a lightning caused fire near the Indians.
6:00 pm Update: Lightning and showers continued throughout the day, but have now mainly moved north into Santa Cruz and Santa Clara Counties. It looks like nearly all the spot fires started in Monterey County by lightning today, including the Milpitas Fire near the Indians, have been contained. The largest so far has been the Gloria Fire, in the Gabilan range, which was contained at just 9 acres. A great job by firefighters to stay ahead of things on such a difficult day.
Xasáuan Today 
Our late Chief Pozzi could observe the strikes and predict exactly when and if we would see a column soon after! Cachagua Fire, with 50 years in the Forest Service.
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Pozzi was one of the greats. I spent a lot of time in the woods with him as a teenager (especially working with him to clear trails after the big snow in the early ’70s). He taught me a lot about mules, tools, and the Santa Lucias. He is sorely missed.