Fires, flooding, fumes: Extreme weather across the nation

CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — From fires to flooding, extreme weather is taking place across the nation.

Wildfires are growing on both sides of California’s Sierra Nevada.

The Dixie Fire ballooned to more than 130-square miles and is threatening 800 structures.

The inferno lit up the sky a Martian-red color in Plumas County, California as smoke saturates the area.

The impact of the wildfire has turned Lake Almanor black, while ash residue is washing up along the shoreline.

Over in southern Oregon, firefighters are using compressed air foam to fight the Bootleg Fire, the nation’s largest burning wildfire, now exploding close to 400,000 acres.

More than 80 western wildfires are producing a tremendous amount of smoke that’s drifting east.

Chicago looks foggy and overcast, but it’s actually wildfire smoke lingering along the skyline. Even the moon turned a unique shade of orange.

Strong winds have also blown the grayish haze all the way east to New York City.

Manhattan is seen from Yankee Stadium through a haze of smoke before a baseball game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees, Wednesday, July 21, 2021, in New York. Wildfires in the American West, including one burning in Oregon that’s currently the largest in the U.S., are creating hazy skies as far away as New York as the massive infernos spew smoke and ash into the air in columns up to six miles high. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

In New Jersey, severe thunderstorms brought pea-sized hail to the Jersey Shore area.

Flash floods hit wildfire-stricken parts of northern Colorado where at least one person is dead and two others missing in Larimer County.

Piles of debris were seen rushing down through canyons as residents were ordered to evacuate to higher ground.