California's heat wave and lightning storms rooted in same weather pattern

The atmospheric pattern stoking California's record-breaking heat wave this week has also played a role in causing extreme lightning storms that have sparked scores of wildfires, weather and fire officials said on Tuesday.The surge in lightning strikes - the most widespread burst of such storms in California since 2008 - has come with very little rain, ratcheting up an already volatile wildfire season.As of Tuesday afternoon, nearly 6,000 lightning strikes were recorded during a single 24-hour s