First published in the June 23 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
The first official day of summer came amid a heat wave with temperatures surpassing 90 degrees in La Cañada Flintridge, but the second day delivered a surprise to drought-conscious residents.
Rain fell throughout LCF early Wednesday with notable lightning and thunderstorms that rattled buildings and slowed down traffic on the 210 Freeway.
The National Weather Service issued a warning Tuesday of possible monsoon showers, dry lightning and wind gusts up to 40 mph occurring in some of areas of Los Angeles County Tuesday evening and Wednesday.
The NWS also urged residents to seek shelter during the thunderstorms and not be near water and warned of potential fires starting due to dry lightning.
Calmer weather conditions are anticipated Thursday with sunny skies and a high of 92 degrees in La Cañada Flintridge.
Various areas were hit hard by the thunderstorms, especially the San Gabriel Valley. The Pasadena Fire Department reported that several palm trees were ignited by lightning, and there were also reports of power outages near LCF and a small brush fire in Sunland believed to have been sparked by lightning.
“Please try to stay indoors during this unstable weather and have your disaster supplies ready if you lose power,” the PFD advised on its Twitter page.
The Angeles National Forest reported on social media that its firefighters “responded to numerous smoke reports due to lightning.”
A woman and her two dogs were fatally struck by lightning in Pico Rivera while walking along the San Gabriel River Wednesday at around 8:50 a.m., according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
“There’s a one-in-a-million chance of something like this happening, and it happened,” sheriff’s Sgt. Patrick Morey told the Los Angeles Times.
— City News Service contributed to this report
