Showers Dampen L.A. as Lightning, Wind Knock Out Power
Light showers slipped into the Los Angeles Basin late Tuesday afternoon, bringing a flurry of wind and lightning that caused scattered power outages.
The brief weather front did little more than wet the streets in most areas and was moving to the east by mid-evening. Not, however, before knocking out power to about 4,800 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers in Hollywood, Highland Park and the San Fernando Valley.
In San Gabriel, lightning set trees afire at a plant nursery and knocked out power around Broadway and Walnut Grove Avenue, leaving police officers to direct traffic at several intersections.
California Highway Patrol Officer Mike Kerr said injury accidents on area freeways were about twice the normal number, which is “what you usually get with the first rain of the season.”
The weather service said the rain was caused by an unstable air mass associated with an upper-level, low-pressure area that moved across Southern California from the north. Before Tuesday’s sprinkles, only .18 of an inch of rain had fallen at the Civic Center since July 1, compared to .19 of an inch by the same date a year ago.
The downtown high temperature Tuesday was 70 degrees after an overnight low of 56. Today should be slightly warmer with highs in the low-to-mid-70s.
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