Nature puts on a show

Yuba-Sutter residents blacked out by a rare, dramatic thunderstorm had their power restored Thursday, hours after a wave of lightning lit up the nighttime sky and left thousands of buildings in the dark.

An unusual mix of moist low-pressure air entering from over the Pacific Ocean, warm inland temperatures and cooler skies produced lightning and as much as a half-inch of overnight rain from the Central Valley to Southern Oregon, the National Weather Service reported.

The combination — unusual for the valley in late spring — was expected to spawn a second wave of storms that could add to the estimated 2,800 lightning strikes Thursday between Shasta and Calaveras counties.

"This lightning, it's totally unusual," said Felix Garcia, a weather service meteorologist in Sacramento. "This episode was so intense, we had people calling in to say the sky was lit up every second."

While this week's storms have provided a natural pyrotechnic show over Mid-Valley towns, they also left stretches of Marysville, Yuba City and Wheatland in the dark.

In the predawn hours Thursday, the first wave of lightning knocked out electricity to more than 7,200 customers in Yuba-Sutter, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. reported.

The power failures began around 2:30 am. as thunderstorms passed through the valley, lighting the skies and producing booming thunderclaps and hail. Lightning struck various wires and transformers, cutting service to homes and businesses in Yuba-Sutter, Nevada and El Dorado counties.

Yuba County Airport in Olivehurst recorded 0.51 inch of rain during the Thursday storm, said Karl Swanberg, a forecaster for the weather service.

"Mother Nature packed quite a hit," PG&E spokeswoman Nicole Liebelt said of vegetation touching power lines during the storm.

PG&E crews roamed East Marysville Thursday morning as residents awoke to find they did not have electricity. By 5 p.m., all but 51 customers had their power restored, said Paul Moreno, another spokesman for the utility. The last remaining blackouts included 30 in East Marysville and 18 in Wheatland.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Howard Yune at 749-4708 or hyune@appealdemocrat.com.

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