2,500 Lightning Strikes, More To Come In Bay Area: SEE

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Lightning struck across the Bay Area and Central Coast more than 2,500 times early Sunday morning, awakening and dazzling residents while also triggering a string of brush fires across the region. The spectacular display was a rare phenomenon, yet residents can expect more of the same Sunday night into Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

During a 12-hour period, thousands of lightning bolts and cloud flashes lit up the sky with the sound of thunder tearing through the night air.

“We had pretty much constant cloud flashes and strikes,” said National Weather Service Meteorologist Anna Schneider. “It’s fairly unusual.We have had a stream of tropical moisture accompanied by instability, and that’s what’s causing the lightning flashes.”

Blame Tropical Storm Fausto hundreds of miles south off the coast of Baja California. The storm is sending a stream of warm moisture up the Pacific, triggering isolated showers, hail and dry lightning along California’s central Coast.

“We are expecting another surge of activity tonight and tomorrow morning,” Schneider warned Sunday.

Sunday evening’s storm is expected to produce more rain, she added. That may not ease the fire danger caused by lightning strikes in the area. Several blazes broke out amid wet conditions Sunday morning.

Red flag warnings for heat, wind gusts of up to 75 miles an hour and dry lightning remained in effect for much of Northern California.