Storms Light Up Southland, Disrupt Power
Lightning briefly knocked out power to some areas of Santa Clarita, Saugus, Newhall and Valencia on Sunday and scattered thunderstorms swept across the Southland.
Lightning probably hit a circuit breaker at Southern California Edison’s Saugus substation shortly after 6 p.m., a company spokeswoman said. A backup breaker quickly restored power, she said.
A tree in Covina was ignited after being struck by lightning, but the fire was extinguished with no damage to surrounding property, authorities said.
Easterly winds blew thunderstorms into the Los Angeles area shortly after 8 p.m., and Los Angeles police officers in Venice said it was “pouring rain.” Other areas, however, recorded little measurable rainfall.
Ken German, a meteorologist at WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times, said the rainfall results from summer “monsoon” conditions, when moisture from the Gulf of Mexico moves into the upper atmosphere over the Southwest and into California.
“It’s hot, it’s dry and there’s a little bit of upper-level moisture,” he said. “There’s a bit of cooling in the upper air, along with some heating at lower levels. This combination destabilizes the atmosphere, resulting in thunderstorms.”
The unstable conditions will continue for the next two days, he said, with high temperatures in the area ranging from 95 to 105.
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