Storm system brings lightning and thunder, but little rain to Southern California



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Thunder, lightning and precipitation rocked southern California on Monday afternoon, complicating efforts in everything from cleaning up a massive oil spill off the Orange County coast to postponing the blow. kick off a Los Angeles Chargers game.

The Los Angeles regional office of the National Weather Service warned shortly after 2 p.m. that downpours were starting to develop over coastal waters and that storms would continue to intensify in the hours ahead.

Shortly before 4 p.m., the storm system brought rain to parts of Long Beach, Catalina and parts of southern Orange County, according to the weather service.

In less than an hour, the storms hit much of Southland.

The weather service tweeted that storms were dotting the metropolitan area with documented lightning strikes from Marina del Rey to Huntington Beach, forecasters said, adding they had warned swimmers and boaters to stay out of the water.

Following lightning strikes on beaches, Los Angeles County lifeguards have closed all beaches in the county, including Avalon on Catalina Island.

A stretch of sand from San Pedro to Malibu has been cleared by rescuers.

Boaters were urged to check weather conditions before setting out and return to port immediately if caught in a thunderstorm, officials said.

“We’re having a lot of lightning in the greater Los Angeles area,” the Los Angeles County Fire Department tweeted shortly after 5 p.m.

A lightning strike near SoFi Stadium delayed the kickoff of the Los Angeles Chargers v Las Vegas Raiders game by about 30 minutes, according to tweets from the Chargers official account.

While storm systems brought the necessary precipitation into a parched southern California, all areas received well under an inch.

According to the most recent precipitation totals from the Weather Service, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Nordhoff Ridge in Ventura County saw the most rain at 0.20 inches.

A gauge in Santa Monica recorded the most precipitation in Los Angeles County – 0.16 inches, the weather service said. Most areas saw less than 0.10 inches of rain.

Although little rain fell altogether, some storm bands were intense, producing heavy downpours not typically seen in Southern California.



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