A rare lightning storm lit up the night sky over eastern San Diego County late Thursday, pushing the National Weather Service to issue a severe thunderstorm warning that ran until 11:15 p.m. Doppler radar picked up a strong storm near Interstate 8 between Boulevard and the Imperial County line at 10:36 p.m., drifting west at about 20 mph. Forecasters warned of marble-sized hail up to 0.5 inches and wind gusts near 50 mph.
The reaction told the story as much as the radar did. In most places a summer thunderstorm is routine. In San Diego it is close to an event. One resident filming from a balcony summed up the mood, noting how unusual lightning and humidity are for the area and how oddly nice it was to watch the sky flash from a distance. Another poked fun at the strangeness, half joking about who had summoned a lightning demon to east county. The novelty is exactly why phones came out instead of going away…