I stayed at school all day today (it was a teacher prep day) and I didn't leave for home until about 4:30 p.m. Yes, it was a LONG day!!! Yesterday and this afternoon, thunderheads developed over the Coachella Valley. It rained up in our local mountains yesterday (as I'm sure it did today), and there were also some lightning strikes today. In fact, five fires were started due to lightning. ...sigh...(so sad)! One of the fires is up in Joshua Tree National Park and, while I was driving home, I spotted the smoke. It was pretty easy to spot, even among the afternoon clouds. My heart sank. I thought of all the animals like desert tortoises that are up in Joshua Tree and wondered how they could escape the destruction. The fire continued to rage on all afternoon. I know because I stopped at our son's home in Indio for dinner and I went outside to see its unfortunate progress a few times. By the time I left at dusk, I could see flames leaping up over the tops of the hills and it saddened me. We all gathered around the evening news to learn that there had been HAIL this afternoon in Warner Springs, but 5 lightning fires around the Coachella Valley.
