Thunderstorms Drop Up to Inch of Rain in Mountains

Thunderstorms spawned by a high-flying low-pressure system dumped up to an inch of rain over some areas of the Southern California mountains Tuesday, with some flooding reported in the San Gabriel Valley.

“There was a lot of rain and some lightning,” said Gladys Garcia, a security guard at the Marshall Canyon Country Club north of La Verne. “But none of it seemed to stop some of the golfers. They just played right through it.”

Glendora Police Sgt. Tim Crowther was playing another golf course, and he said his foursome was not deterred by the rain.

“Then the lightning came and we got under a tree,” he said. “After the lightning ended, we started to play again. Then the earthquake hit. That was it. We quit.

Upland police reported a slew of flooded streets, but no property damage from the storm. However, there were some rattled nerves when a magnitude 4.6 aftershock struck the area at 3:32 p.m.

Los Angeles County fire officials said the rain was heaviest between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. in the northern San Gabriel Valley. Although lightning provided a spectacular display of fireworks against the storm-darkened sky, there was no reported damage from lightning strikes, officials said.

The storm will slowly move into Nevada today and “will take the precipitation with it,” said Steve Burback, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

Burback said Tuesday’s rainfall will not put much of a dent in California’s severe drought. As the storm makes its way east today, high temperatures in the Los Angeles area should reach the low 70s beneath partly cloudy skies, forecasters said.