California Windstorm Dying Down. Wildfires Still Burn, But Rain Coming

Large fallen trees litter a road near Yosemite National Park
after a fierce California wind storm this week.

Here we go again.  

Firefighters in California were scrambling to contain numerous brush fires after strong winds raked most of California Tuesday amid a persistent drought.  It's the "rainy" season in California, but it sure as heck has NOT been rainy. 

Luckily, so far at least, most of the fires are relatively small, at least compared to the cataclysmic ones California endured during the summer and fall. 

Still, as noted before, it's still exceptionally odd for California to have brush fires in January. Fires were reported almost statewide, from Napa wine country in the north to the San Diego area in the south. 

Several neighborhood had to be evacuated, but at least report, few if any houses burned down. 

Wind damage was widespread, with hundreds of thousands of people across California without power due to fallen trees and power lines. 

In northern California, a giant redwood crushed a cabin, but the woman and two dogs inside managed to escape, according to The Weather Channel. Fallen branches blocked several streets in San Francisco.

Yosemite National Park closed because high winds tore down numerous trees, blocking roads. Power lines also fell in and around Yosemite.

Over the next five to seven days, at least some light rain is in the forecast for virtually all of California.

Videos:

A road near Los Gatos, California was left with a mess of fallen branches that looks like they will take a while to clean up:

Scenes of high winds in California:

Here's a lightweight canopy being flipped up onto a roof: