Storms Black Out Parts of East County

Thunder, lightning and high winds jolted East County into the new month Tuesday, leaving thousands of residents without power for an indefinite period.

“Off and on, thousands have been without power and still are at times because of the weather,” said San Diego Gas & Electric Co. spokesman Maurice Luque. “Winds have blown tree limbs into wires, and lightning strikes in the backcountry have caused the outages. Crews are working on the problem, but there is no way to tell when full power will be restored.”

Also hard hit by weather-related outages were communities in the northeast part of the county, including Escondido and Ramona. Some residents in Del Mar, Encinitas, Scripps Ranch, Solana Beach and Leucadia were also plagued by failures. SDG&E; said that there were 43 weather-related outages--mostly in East County--affecting, at different times, a total of 73,834 customers.

Winds of 35 m.p.h. were reported at the Cabrillo National Monument Visitors Center on the tip of Point Loma. Trees were felled by winds in Lakeside, but no other damage was reported.

No Fatal Accidents

Numerous minor and a few injury accidents were reported in the East County area. Authorities reported no fatalities.

Traces of rain accompanied the thunder and lightning in El Cajon, Jamul, Rancho San Diego, Lemon Grove, La Mesa, Santee and in the mountains, but not enough to provide relief from the unseasonably high temperatures that reached 105 degrees in some areas, National Weather Service forecaster Wilbur Shigehara said.

“The rainfall was not significant. El Cajon had .05 of an inch of rain,” Shigehara said. “These are high-level thunderstorms, and normally they don’t bring much rain. They do bring gusty winds and lightning.”

La Mesa was the coolest East County community, with a high of 100 degrees; El Cajon reported a 106-degree high, and Santee was only slightly cooler at 105 degrees. El Centro was the hottest spot in the county Tuesday, with a 110-degree reading.

The source of the hot winds, humidity and sporadic thundershowers is a large high-pressure system from central Nevada aimed right at San Diego, coupled with moisture from Mexico. Both are expected to last through Thursday.

East County residents “may have to batten down the hatch one more day,” Shigehara said. “Another surge of moisture from Chihuahua and Sonora, Mexico, is expected (today). By Thursday, the thunderstorms will be confined to the mountain and desert areas.”

San Diego County averages two to three thunderstorms between the latter half of August and the first weeks of September, Shigehara said.

“We do get thunderstorms about this time of year. Maybe one or two storms in August and another one or two in September, so this is not unusual. The reason for it is the moist flow from Mexico, which is at its peak at this time of year.”

A new weather pattern bringing cooler temperatures and more sunshine to the entire county is expected by Thursday and will last through the Labor Day weekend, Shigehara said. Night and morning low clouds that disappeared with the onslaught of heat and humidity will return Friday, and are expected to lower weekend temperatures by at least 5 degrees.