Storm Douses Power at Northridge Mall

A freakish lightning storm rumbled across Southern California on Saturday, leaving little rain but forcing beach-goers to take cover and triggering sporadic power failures.

A few people took their chances and ventured outdoors during a morning of sporadic showers and downpours.

“I figured after 10 minutes it would go away and that hopefully others would be afraid to come out and we’d have this place to ourselves,” said 37-year-old market researcher Nancy Barna, who pushed her 2-year-old daughter, Samantha, in a stroller at Glenfest ‘93, a crafts and entertainment festival.

And she was almost alone on the walkways of downtown Glendale. “You know Californians,” said Glenfest toy retailer Karen Perea, eyeing the thin crowd. “They get scared of a little rain.”

Power went out twice in various stores in Northridge Fashion Center, including the Robinsons-May department store, where managers patrolled aisles with flash lights and some set out candles.

“I heard this huge crash of thunder, and then the lights went out,” said Elizabeth Malone, a saleswoman. The outages lasted less than half an hour each, shoppers and employees said.

Elsewhere in the crowded mall, a few customers got stuck in elevators while other stores remained fully lit.

“Some people were tripping over each other--they were kind of scared,” said Marisa Lee, of Thousand Oaks. “Some kids were yelling, but just to make noise, because it wasn’t that big a deal.”

The storm front brought less than two-hundredths of an inch of rain to downtown Los Angeles, a pittance compared to the blustery storms that battered Southern California in January and February. Along with the showers and thunder, lightning struck in many areas, then moved into the deserts and mountains.

The lightning caused sporadic and widespread power failures in parts of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange counties, briefly affecting more than 43,000 customers, officials of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Southern California Edison said.

WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times, said there is a less than a 5% chance of rain today; temperatures should range from the middle 60s along the coast to the 80s in the valleys. “There is no rain in sight until Wednesday or Thursday,” when there is a 20% chance, said Steve Burback, a meteorologist with WeatherData.

Meanwhile, the unpredictable weather kept beach-goers at bay: Santa Monica Beach, normally jammed with 50,000 people at this time of year, had only a tenth of that Saturday, said lifeguard Brian Hogue. The rain “came down pretty good for five minutes this morning. Everyone left. Now, they are coming back,” he said Saturday afternoon.

At Glenfest, ticket-taker Sara Conroy squinted toward the skies and said: “This was unexpected.” For 1 1/2 hours, she braved thunder and rain. But by noon, festival-goers had settled in to listen to blues music amid crafts booths and food stands, and using their umbrellas to shield themselves from the sunshine.

At nearby Fanny Briggs Carr Park, Sean Mathet stood under a tree to take refuge from the sun as he watched his three children use the swings on a deserted playground.

“I didn’t think it would rain for long,” he said. “It was only a guess.”