Satellite footage captures a blanket of smoke covering Southern California as blazes grow

Timnelapse footage shows satellite images that show a blanket of smoke covering Southern California as blazes continue to grow in the area.

Thunderstorms that dropped light rain gave some breathing room to crews struggling to quench the state’s massive wildfires but lightning sparked several new blazes in the drought-stricken north, fire officials said.

The National Weather Service said there were more than 1,100 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in California between Thursday evening and Friday morning with fire officials saying lightning strikes ignited at least 17 fires.