Lightning might return overnight

Stay tuned: The San Diego coastline might get a second round of thunder and lightning from a storm that dropped south from the Pacific Northwest -- a rarity during late summer.

The National Weather Service says moist, unstable air continues to flow into San Diego County, where many beaches were closed early Wednesday by lighting that struck at or near the coast more than 200 times.

"We could get more thunderstorms late tonight and maybe before dawn," said Brandt Maxwell, a weather service forecaster.

Lewis Surrey of Leucadia took this image of lightning hitting the ocean off Leucadia shortly after 7 a.m. on Wednesday. Surrey shot the photo through a window of his home on the bluffs above the beach. Lewis Surrey

(Lewis Surrey)

Monsoon moisture out of the south sometimes reaches the coast during summer, triggering thunderstorms. But Wednesday's system originated off Washington state and flowed to Southern California, where it swirled ashore in a counter clockwise fashion. It was the second major thunderstorm to hit the coast in less than a month.

Wednesday's system closed beaches in San Diego, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Del Mar and Oceanside, and briefly produced hail in North County. The storm drenched Encinitas.

Encinitas lifeguard Captain Larry Giles said lifeguards ordered people out of the water and off the sand due to the hazardous conditions. All day camp and junior lifeguard programs also were canceled, Giles said. City pools in Carlsbad were closed, said city spokeswoman Kristina Ray.

As the storm moved south people in the water at beaches in San Diego were asked to get out and those beaches, as well as city piers, were closed, said San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesman Lee Swanson said.

Authorities are warning people to stay away from metal objects and to move indoors until the storm passes.

A storm system worked its way almost like a squall line through San Diego County, hitting Pacific Beach on its way north and east. — John Gastaldo

(John Gastaldo)

Weather service meteorologist Cynthia Palmer said that lightning has been reported off and on since midnight from Del Mar to Camp Pendleton.

A North County fire dispatcher said "We have had all kinds of lightning strikes all over."

Big thunder claps and lightning were reported in Leucadia where surfers were seen scrambling out of ocean.

Several small power outages have been reported in Encinitas, Cardiff, Olivenhain, Vista, Pala, Bonsall and Fallbrook, according to SDG&E.

Visitors to La Jolla Cove use umbrellas to stay dry as rain passed through the area a little after 10 a.m. Wednesday. Howard Lipin / U-T — Howard Lipin

(Howard Lipin)

In late July, an unusually powerful coastal lightning storm hit 11 people at Venice Beach in Los Angeles County, killing one man. Lightning peppered the San Diego County coastline that same day.

Thunderstorms rarely occur along the coast during the summer. Usually, the monsoon moisture flowing into San Diego County remains east of the mountains. But in late July, thunderstorms rolled across the coast, producing more than 100 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes across the county, mostly at and near the coast.

Jim Grant took this image in the San Marcos early Wednesday, saying on Facebook: “Lightning all around me thunder and rainbows popping up crazy crazy crazy.” Jim Grant

(Jim Grant)

Email your weather photos to: gary.robbins@utsandiego.com