Scattered storms, lightning hit Southern California and prompt beach closures
Updated
Scattered storms, a few reports of lightning, and some beach closures sparked by heavy surf made Southern California a storm spot with a major thunderstorm over the weekend.
The storms, in the afternoon of Friday and early Saturday, moved toward the coast, where they picked up steam by Saturday afternoon.
The National Weather Service reported that the first severe thunderstorm warning was issued for the Pacific Ocean south of Santa Barbara on Friday afternoon, and the second warning was issued for the coast north of Santa Barbara in the early afternoon Saturday.
As a result, the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Services issued a warning for Santa Barbara and parts of Ventura County Saturday evening in regards to a severe thunderstorm in the vicinity of the Santa Barbara Airport.
The warning issued by the county includes beach closures due to a possible hazardous surf.
The threat of a severe thunderstorm that can be produced by the interaction between severe and weak thunderstorms with an advancing front can produce a threat of life-threatening flooding and dangerous lightning.
A report Saturday afternoon by the Weather Channel indicated that several reports of lightning and isolated reports of damaging winds and hazy skies had been reported as the thunderstorms moved through the region.
A series of storms that swept through Southern California on Friday night were responsible for several warnings on the Pacific Crest Trail and numerous beach closures.
Thunderstorms were also seen in parts of Southern California on Friday night and early Saturday morning.
Heavy surf has been reported along the coast as the storms shifted from Southern to Northern California.
The storms were forecast to bring severe weather to the areas of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and San Luis Obispo Counties, the National Weather Service said.
The weather service reported that a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area on Saturday afternoon.
The weather service said that the weather was expected to become more severe Saturday evening and become a severe thunderstorm by early Sunday morning.