Storms Knock Out Power but Bring Little Measurable Rain

Fast-moving squalls brought lightning strikes and tree-bending winds to Southern California on Thursday, temporarily knocking out power at Ontario International Airport, disrupting electricity for thousands of residential and commercial customers and touching off small brush fires.

For all their sound and fury, the storms left little measurable rainfall, although brief downpours were reported from Capistrano Beach to the northern San Fernando Valley. The lightning show and subsequent showers left a spectacular rainbow arcing over Los Angeles’ Civic Center at dusk.

The power outage at the Ontario airport did not interfere with flight operations, officials said. Controllers switched to backup portable systems.

Southern California Edison said lightning caused more that 30,000 brief power outages in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, and another 1,600 customers were temporarily without power in areas of Los Angeles County from the Palos Verdes Peninsula to the San Gabriel Valley.

At Westminster High School, a lightning strike at 7:02 p.m. knocked out stadium lights and forced cancellation of a planned football game.

National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Entrekin said the storms came after a trough of unstable air resting off the West Coast was pushed ashore by strong southwest winds descending 30,000 feet.