Thunderstorm Hits Ojai, Dropping Hail and Cutting Power

A thunderstorm moved swiftly through parts of Ventura County on Friday, hammering Ojai with rain and marble-sized hail and bringing lightning that sparked a fire that knocked out power.

“I’ve lived here since 1955, and this was the best hailstorm since then,” said County Firefighter Mike Middough. “There was a lot of lightning and a lot of thunder in close proximity.”

Hail began pelting Ojai’s streets about noon and lasted for about 45 minutes, residents said. About an inch of the little white balls stuck on the ground for another hour before melting.

About the same time, lightning struck a power line at the Humane Society in Ojai, causing a small pole fire and sending a power surge into the building that produced smoke and forced an evacuation.

Middough said several small dogs and other animals were forced to wait outside in the hail while firefighters worked.

Power to the building was cut along with 63 other customers in the area. Southern California Edison spokesman Rudy Gonzales said power was restored about 2:45 p.m.

Minutes after the Human Society incident, firefighters were sent to Creek Road and Saddle Lane in the Sulfur Mountain area, where lightning struck a hillside and sparked a small fire that was doused by a water-dropping helicopter.

The cause was unclear, but six Edison customers near Creek Road were without power for about three hours after the hillside fire, which was contained to less than an acre.

Only about 0.10 of an inch of rain was recorded in Ojai and other cities in the county, including Simi Valley.

The storm moved southeast from Ojai across Santa Paula, Fillmore and Piru, which were the subject of a severe thunderstorm warning issued on radio stations by the National Weather Service about 4 p.m.

The warning was in effect for about two hours and advised people to avoid “deadly lightning” and “damaging winds in excess of 55 mph.” It also advised listeners to seek shelter and stand away from windows.

“It’s been a long time, and it’s pretty rare out here,” weather specialist Stuart Seto said of the warning.

No roads were closed and there were no reports of major accidents. Heavy lightning was reported later Friday in Simi Valley.

A second outage was reported in the Ojai area about 5:30 p.m., when a car struck a power pole in Oak View and 121 customers lost power for about an hour. The cause of the crash was unknown.

Partly cloudy skies and coastal temperatures in the mid-60s were expected today. Slightly warmer weather and clear skies were forecast for Sunday.