Thunderstorms Bring Rain, Lightning and Quarter-Sized Hail to NorCal
It was just a couple days ago that the sun was beating down on Northern California residents with triple digit heat reminiscent of late-July. Now the fickle behavior of Mother Nature is rearing its ugly head in the form of late-May thunderstorms, bringing rain, lightning strikes and massive hail to the area.
While the storm moved into parts of NorCal Friday evening, it was Saturday morning that has so far seen the brunt of the storm. The early hours saw a ton of lightning strikes:
Very impressive thunderstorm outbreak overnight and ongoing this AM across much of NorCal (roughly SF N-ward). Storms were elevated, and brought relatively little rain at surface, but numerous lightning strikes and even some larger hail have been reported thus far. #CAwx #CAfire pic.twitter.com/lUdQItzEwg
— Daniel Swain (@Weather_West) May 30, 2020
All those white dots are lightning. We could see more today. Light showers possible this AM as well. #MorningBlend10 pic.twitter.com/N1jT1RANUy
— Rob Carlmark (@rcarlmark) May 30, 2020
And if that wasn’t enough to wake you from your Saturday morning slumber, some quarter-to-silver-dollar-sized hail fell around Butte and Yuba County around 5 am:
.@NWSSacramento shared to the comments on the page https://t.co/7ngF89TVa4 hail taken this morning in Brownsville pic.twitter.com/NFg3U0c4c3
— D. Wilson (@ButteWxSpotter) May 30, 2020
.@NWSSacramento Lacey Barker in Yankee Hill message us this picture, hail taken @ 5:55 am #ButteCo #CAwx pic.twitter.com/KCCC8WHulq
— D. Wilson (@ButteWxSpotter) May 30, 2020
While many areas of NorCal won’t see weather this exaggerated, rain will be constant throughout the day in most areas. The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Watch for areas of Far NorCal, especially in areas close to the burn scars of the 2018 fires.
âš ï¸A Flash Flood Watch has been issued for portions of northern California for tomorrow. Be on the look out for potential flooding on roadways & low lying areas as well as rises on small creeks and streams. Debris flows may be possible near the Shasta County burn scars. #CAwx pic.twitter.com/B5ephBBlG8
— NWS Sacramento (@NWSSacramento) May 29, 2020
Buckle up, NorCal. This storm’s gonna be a doozy.
