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A series of lightning storms swarmed Southern California on Sunday, bringing nearly 40,000 lightning strikes to the region.
Kathy Hoxsie, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, told LAist that a “cluster” of storms had developed over the National Weather Service's Los Angeles’ service regions, which include L.A., Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties. She added that those 40,000 lightning strikes were tallied over a period from 7 a.m. Sunday to 7 a.m. Monday.
Hoxsie said that most of the lightning was contained to Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. “The thunderstorms started off more in the coastal areas. Many started off the Channel Islands, and throughout the day they just blossomed,” said Hoxsie.
NWS tweeted out some graphics showing how widespread the strikes were:
Most active lightning occurred between 7-10pm Sunday evening. Over 5,000 bolts on the 10pm image alone. #CAwx #LAWeather #LARain pic.twitter.com/FoSqwoKHbn
— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) September 11, 2017
Tremendous number of lightning strikes & in-cloud flashes over SW CA in last 24-hours. Nearly 40,000 in total! #CAwx #LAWeather #LARain pic.twitter.com/bXoEvdqHx6
— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) September 11, 2017
Unsurprisingly, the lightning made a big showing on social media. From professional time-lapse photos to panoramic videos and hazy, spectral shots, the lightning showed up in different forms. Here are some of the ones we ran across: