A wildfire to our north in Lake County that broke out Wednesday afternoon quickly spread to burn 8,000 acres of trees and brush. It's called the Rocky Fire, and the Chron reports that hundreds of residents have already been evacuated from the town of Lower Lake. As of 7 a.m. this morning there was no report of any containment on CalFire's website.

A smaller fire but one that is dangerously close to old-growth forest and Yosemite National Park, the Big Creek Fire, is now clocking in at 150 acres near Groveland in Tuolumne County. As News10 reports, the fire broke out around 6 p.m. last night near Highway 120, briefly shutting down that road. As of 8 a.m. that fire is only 5 percent contained, but MyMotherlode reports that Highway 120 is back open, and 25 homes remain under voluntary evacuation.

Also still burning, and contributing to poor air quality and smoke across Northern and Central California (as shown in the National Weather Service graphic below) are the Lowell Fire in Nevada and Placer Counties (2,303 acres - 60 percent contained); the Wragg Fire around Lake Berryessa in Napa and Solano Counties (7,500 acres - 80 percent contained); and, to the south, the Willow Fire in Madera County, southeast of Bass Lake (3,383 acres - 30 percent contained).

And, yes, everyone said this fire season would be terrible because of the drought. And it's still only July.

We'll update you as these fires progress toward containment.