Intense summer thunderstorms rolled through the San Diego area Tuesday, letting loose with some heavy downpours, putting on lightning displays that sparked a spate of small brush fires and prompting authorities to clear swimmers and surfers out of the ocean.
The afternoon squalls resulted in hundreds of lightning strikes in the county, according to the National Weather Service.
The electrical activity caused no reported injuries but set patches of vegetation ablaze in fields and on hillsides in such areas as Campo, Poway and Vista. The conditions, generated by monsoonal moisture out of Mexico, extended from the deserts to the coast. In the mid-afternoon, the threat of lightning strikes led lifeguards in San Diego, Coronado and other locales to direct beachgoers out of the surf until the storm passed.
"It was pretty intense for a while here," NWS meteorologist James Thomas said.
As of 3 p.m., the bands of clouds had dropped 0.64 of an inch of rain in Tierra del Sol, 0.59 in Campo, 0.35 in Descanso, 0.32 in Barona, 0.22 in Ramona, 0.15 in Rainbow, 0.12 in Rancho Bernardo and 0.06 in Alpine. By late afternoon, the unsettled atmospheric system was moving out of the region to the northwest, making way for clearing skies.
The conditions, however, could return in a milder form early Wednesday, bringing scattered showers east of the inland valleys, Thomas said.
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Forecasters predicted high temperatures throughout the county would peak Tuesday, then cool to near average for Friday through early next week.
Highs Tuesday are expected to range from 72 to 77 degrees along the coast, 84 to 89 in the western valleys, 90 to 95 degrees near the foothills, 88 to 95 degrees in the mountains and 105 to 110 degrees in the deserts.
High temperatures are expected to fall a few degrees by Friday. Friday's highs will range from 71 to 76 near the beaches, 75 to 80 in the western valleys, 80 to 85 degrees near the foothills, 81 to 88 degrees in the mountains and 103 to 108 in the deserts.
