(Gene Blevins / Associated Press)
Lightning strikes along the coast near Malibu early this morning.
More than 500 lightning strikes were recorded overnight in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, according to the National Weather Service.
“That’s pretty impressive for this part of the country,” said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
The lightning strikes were recorded by a private detection network that tracks strikes that reach the ground, Kittell said. The highest volume of lightning usually occurs between clouds, he said, so the overnight storm likely produced far more lightning than was tracked.
Tucson-based Lightning Location and Protection Inc., reported that the lightning strikes ended in Los Angeles County at about 12:30 a.m. as the storm moved northwest.
The lightning was sparked by a cluster of thunderstorms that formed between Catalina Island and the mainland at about 11 p.m. Thursday, Kittell said. The storms also brought a scattering of rain, from trace amounts to about two-tenths of an inch in Ventura County valleys, he said. The rain was enough to prevent wildfires from erupting.
