Summer thunderstorms rolled through Southern California on Sunday, leaving one man dead on a Los Angeles beach, and thousands without power in San Diego County.
The unidentified man in his 20’s died after lightning struck Venice Beach on Sunday afternoon. At least 8 others were injured in the strike as well, with six still in the hospital and one in critical condition.
Another man was struck by lightning on Catalina Island that ignited several fires, but was later reported in stable condition.
In San Diego County, the storms knocked out power in at least five locations including Ocean Beach, Encinitas, Logan Heights, Torrey Pines and Mission Valley, leaving more than 1,000 customers without power, according to SDG&E.
The National Weather Service issued two flash flood warnings for San Diego throughout the day, including one shortly before 2:45 p.m that lasted until 5:45 p.m. for the area near Palomar Mountain, where nearby Sunshine Summit received four tenths of an inch of rain in 10 minutes. The CHP reported that State Route 79 was closed in both directions at mile marker 46.5 for flooding.
The second flash flood warning from Sunday morning said flooding was possible from Camp Pendleton to San Ysidro.
The NWS reported cloud-to-ground lightning within five miles of Lindbergh Field that triggered lightning warnings for the airport, though a spokesperson at Lindbergh Field said flights were unaffected.
CHP reported flooding in the right-hand lanes of northbound Interstate 805 approaching Interstate 5 near Carmel Valley. Social media users posted pictures which appeared to show flooding on surface streets including North Torrey Pines Road near the Torrey Pines Golf Course, Genesee Ave south of Centurion Square near University City High School and the 400 block of Santa Fe Drive approaching the I-5 onramp near the Von’s shopping center.
As the storms rolled slowly through San Diego County drifting to the northwest, “Thirty lightning strikes were detected over and off the coast, with a gauge in Del Mar picking up .57 inches of rain,” the NWS reported. Solana Beach received .29 inches and Mission Beach received .15-inches
The isolated thunderstorms continued until about noon Sunday and left behind small pockets of flooding.
—City News Service contributed to this story
