Thunderstorm Catches SoCal By Surprise

LOS ANGELES, CA — A thunderstorm took Southern California by surprise Friday night, knocking out power and forcing the cancelation of high school football games and treating evening commuters to a spectacular show.

For more than an hour, lightning tore through the sky at a steady pace, spreading through the Los Angeles and Orange County region. The storm brought scattered showers, reaching the downtown area at about 7:30 p.m.

Lightning forced the postponement to Saturday of the football game at San Pedro High School against Banning and other games.

DWP reported 10,000 customers across Los Angeles were without power and crews were working to restore electricity. Edison reports at least 7,000 customers across Los Angeles County were without power.

Lightning was blamed for fires in Santa Ana, an unincorporated area near Orange and the Los Alamitos Joint Air Base, where four Orange County Fire Authority and two base companies worked to extinguish up to 10 palm trees that caught fire following strikes, according to OCFA Capt. Steve Concialdi.

OCFA crews also responded about 10 p.m. to a traffic collision at Bloomfield Street and Katella Avenue in Los Alamitos where a man crashed into a utility pole and live wires were on the vehicle, which came to rest against a building near the intersection, Concialdi said.

The man claimed to have minor injuries, but a female passenger was trapped and both were told to stay in the vehicle until Edison crews were able to de-energize and remove the wires from the vehicle, Concialdi said.

Firefighters will likely use the Jaws of Life to free the woman from the vehicle, once it is safe for them to do so, Concialdi said.

Concialdi urged drivers to slow down when it rains because of the slick road conditions.

Lightning also forced many high school football games in Los Angeles and Orange counties from getting started or to be halted. A National Federation of State High School Associations rule bans football from being played during lightning. Thirty minutes from the last lightning strike must pass before play begins or resumes.

Thunderstorms and showers were expected to continue along the coasts of Los Angeles County and moving toward Ventura County, according to the National Weather Service, which issued a Significant Weather Advisory set to expire at 8:45 p.m.

Thunderstorms followed by showers were also possible on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service, which forecast clear weather on Sunday.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report. Photo: Paige Austin