Furious Storm Makes a Brief Visit

A rare thunderstorm brought lightning, hail and heavy rain to Orange County on Friday night, making roads treacherous, though no serious injuries were reported.

Within the first 15 minutes of the downpour, more than a dozen minor accidents were reported to the California Highway Patrol, followed by scores more on streets across the county.

The storm left 6,300 Southern California Edison customers without power, affecting parts of Huntington Beach, Corona del Mar, Newport Beach, Fullerton, Santa Ana and Irvine, a company spokesman said.

A boat docked at Newport Dunes caught on fire after being struck by lightning, officials said. Newport Beach firefighters extinguished that blaze before serious damage was done, a dispatcher said.

Small hailstones fell across the northern part of the county and were especially heavy in Fullerton and Yorba Linda, officials said.

Shortly before 8:30 p.m. the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for eastern Orange County and urged people who live near streams to “take immediate precautions to protect life and property.” The warning was in effect through 10 p.m.

“It’s a very busy night,” said forecaster Mark Moede of the National Weather Service. “We have some reports that one-third to one-half an inch of rain fell in Orange County in 45 minutes. That’s a lot for Southern California.”

Moede said that with the ground already saturated from recent rains, conditions are ripe for mudslides in canyon areas. Still, by 9 p.m. there were no reports of such problems, he said.

CHP officers said the road situation was typical for a rainy evening, with many motorists failing to slow down even though roads were wet. Accidents always increase in such situations, said CHP Officer Mark Reeves, who was monitoring conditions from the Traffic Management Center in Irvine.

Reeves said two major roads had some flooding. The offramps from the Eastern Toll Road were closed at Santiago Canyon Road, and standing water was reported on Pacific Coast Highway at Seapoint Avenue in Huntington Beach.