Lightning, Hail, and Power Outage Reports

(photo: Mike Eliason)
Edhat readers share their photos, videos, and reports from the intense storm that hit Santa Barbara on March 5, 2019. See them all below!
By Mike Eliason of Santa Barbara County Fire Department
Lightning strikes in the skies above Santa Barbara, CA, March 5, 2019, as seen in these views from Stearns Wharf.
Photo by @colinmccrindle
By an edhat reader
We set up a tripod on the roof and took a few hundred pics and selected the best to give to you. I am 12 years old and love photography.
By Sophie Cameron (daughter of HolaZola)
Lightning In Paradise, so photos shot from Goleta.
Photos by Yesenia Thomas
Captured from the top of Old San Marcos.
Video by Mark W.
By an edhat reader
Lightning in Isla Vista, Platform Holly hit. Monster cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning seen from Isla Vista.
Video by Sara G.
Video by Rey H.
Lightning strike near Mussel Shoals
Reported by edhat readers
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Is anyone else hearing that roaring thunder? We're on the westside and its every few minutes, getting deeper and almost rattling our windows.
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Intense lightning off the water.
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Strong winds and hail off Painted Cave.
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Lights flickering, some houses dark, off State and Sola Streets.
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Mar 05, 2019 09:52 PMMy little doggy is keeping herself buried under her blanket. I haven’t checked on my cats. One of them is a permanent scaredy-cat so she probably hasn’t moved from under the bed where she spends a lot of her life.
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Mar 05, 2019 09:53 PMOh great she did just spit up. So normal for a cat... ;-)
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Mar 05, 2019 10:09 PMI wonder if they do have cat tonics. Seriously tho, hope you both come thru this ok and that tomorrow dawns bright and calm.
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Mar 05, 2019 09:13 PMNature is playing for keeps tonight. Flash Flood Warning
Flash Flood Warning
CAC083-111-060630-
/O.NEW.KLOX.FF.W.0012.190306T0507Z-190306T0630Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
Flash Flood Warning
National Weather Service OXNARD CA
907 PM PST TUE MAR 5 2019
The National Weather Service in OXNARD has issued a
* Flash Flood Warning for...
THE Thomas Burn Area IN Western Ventura County in southwestern
California... Southeastern Santa Barbara County in southwestern
California...
* Until 1030 PM PST.
* At 904 PM PST, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms with very
heavy rain with rates up to near 0.20 inches in 7 minutes about to
move into the Thomas burn area. Flash flooding and debris flows
are expected to begin shortly.
* Some locations that will experience flooding include...
The Thomas Burn area including M
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Mar 05, 2019 09:16 PMMONTECITO!! Evacuate now, or go to 2nd story NOW.
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Mar 05, 2019 09:28 PMI second Two Scoops Motion. Get to a safe place while you still can if you are in a debris flow zone. There are still strong bands offshore coming our way.
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Mar 05, 2019 09:28 PMAmazing display! We saw a bolt of lightning hit a palm tree on Hollister next to Big Brand Tires - It looked like a Roman Candle! Thanks for posting such great photo's.
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Mar 05, 2019 09:40 PMOuch, your ears! Same happened to me once, about 3 houses away. How the walls shook!
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Mar 05, 2019 09:30 PMHope the relatively brief squalls we've been seeing here ([email protected]) are similar elsewhere, and that we don't see longer or even heavier ones as the night unfolds. So far that looks to be the case on radar... (fingers crossed)
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Mar 05, 2019 09:39 PMTHAT was another good one. Just when you think it's over...
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Mar 05, 2019 09:44 PMOoh, Right on the coast! The inherent, mind-boggling power of lightning is further illustrated when you compare the distance away and effect you see and hear and feel.
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Mar 05, 2019 09:45 PMTO/Malibu getting some too, according to lightning map.
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Mar 05, 2019 09:47 PMReally heavy rain in the Upper East now. This seems like a debris flow scenario. I hope not.
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Mar 05, 2019 09:49 PMFantastic pics! Absolutely stunning!!
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Mar 05, 2019 10:05 PMWe need to stay vigilant, but all the info I'm seeing seems to indicate we may be through the most intense rain. Does anyone have current sources showing otherwise?
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Mar 05, 2019 10:14 PMI'm just following everything that's been linked here & hoping for best for burn scar areas and residents. Not sure what to think of this NWS forecast for Montecito (MONTECITO #2 (MOIC1)): "Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall."
Of course all the warnings and watches are highlighted! I just got a kick out of "possibly a thunderstorm."
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Mar 05, 2019 10:17 PMYou may be right. At https://rain.cosbpw.net the rain gauges above Montecito show less the 0.2”/hr accumulation rate, so hopefully we’ll all dodge a bullet tonight as a community
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Mar 05, 2019 10:23 PMThat was about 9 audible strikes in less than 20 seconds... No accompanying downpours though. Windy forecast about a half inch between midnight and 3 a.m.
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Mar 05, 2019 10:26 PMNever mind. Windy's figures have been changed/updated.
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Mar 05, 2019 10:27 PMyes..check key news live and also real time lightening map
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Mar 05, 2019 10:39 PMA summary lightning map: https://twitter.com/passantino/status/1103129943104315392
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Check out his whole feed.
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Mar 05, 2019 10:40 PMCongratulations, NEXUS, on your photographs!!
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https://twitter.com/dailynexus
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Mar 05, 2019 10:57 PMSomewhat abysmal warning. Sure would be nice if NWS told us WHERE, as Thomas burn scar spans two counties and is 440 square miles, according to online information.
https://twitter.com/NWSLosAngeles/status/1103166142015815686
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Mar 05, 2019 11:03 PMLA Times posted at 10:45: "A band of thunderstorms that stretched from southern Kern County past the Channel Islands was producing a dramatic lightning show Tuesday night in the Southern California sky.
In one five-minute stretch alone, shortly after 8 p.m., the National Weather Service recorded 1,489 pulses of lightning off the coast, 231 over Santa Barbara County and 40 in Los Angeles County, said Kathy Hoxsie, a meteorologist with the weather service in Oxnard.
“It’s a lot,” she said. “We usually don’t get that.”
Those numbers appeared to taper off later Tuesday evening. The storms were expected to move into Ventura and Los Angeles counties overnight. https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-socal-lightning-20190305-story.html
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Mar 06, 2019 12:04 AMMore great photos on Noozhawk, some that aren't posted here: https://www.noozhawk.com/article/thunderstorms_putting_on_impressive_light_show_in_santa_barbara_county
============================================================================== I guess commentators have gone to sleep. Good steady rain now. Which, with our saturated lands, is a problem. My back yard has been pooling for almost a month, it seems. Montecito has gotten less than Goleta or even SBCC or SB County downtown building. Good news! Real-Time Rainfall Table: http://rain.cosbpw.net/home.php
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Mar 06, 2019 12:10 AMOK heads up. Longer period of moderately heavy rain coming ashore now. Though less intense than the brief earlier squalls, this one might dump enough rain to cause problems. Especially since so much rain has already come down tonight. This squall is intensifying as it encounters the South facing slopes so up in the burn scar it could start getting ugly. Anyone have other resources indicating how this is going to unfold in the next hour or so?
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Mar 06, 2019 12:33 AMIt just now picked up here, I'm near Hope & Foothill. Haven't looked at radar in a while. But with such large differentials within a few miles, we need to hear from people with serious meteorological equipment -- or live reports from Montecito. Nothing we can do. I hope, but don't believe in thoughts & prayers. ;-) I only know of the websites listed here.
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Mar 06, 2019 12:34 AMand I had no earlier rain squalls, was surprised not to during about 3 hours of lightning.
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Mar 06, 2019 12:15 AMRadar looks like one more weaker band is headed our way. Have we dodged the bullet?
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Mar 06, 2019 12:30 AMCounty site is only showing half an inch in the heaviest rain area of the Thomas burn (above Carp). Heaviest stream flow is Montecito Creek at 57cfs. The gMaps traffic view shows 101 going well with several slow areas but no closures on 154. CHP only shows Northbound onramps closed between Padaro and San Ysidro -in case- of flooding. Dare we hope that the mountain will stay in place?
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Mar 06, 2019 12:36 AMThat was the conclusion I came to. I sure hope so!
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Mar 06, 2019 12:39 AMJohn, you made me look. At 12:37, Montecito Creek sensor 2555 reports 1.52. Monitor stage is 1.50. It's decreased and risen since your post, I think. ========================================================================= http://rain.cosbpw.net/site.php?site_id=46&view=8bc6e88f-eeab-4281-9d92-3d723016e945
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Mar 06, 2019 01:03 AMWhoops. John, you were probably looking at this stream flow link (I wasn't):
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http://rain.cosbpw.net/map/?sensor_class=25&show_thresholds=true&view=8bc6e88f-eeab-4281-9d92-3d723016e945
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Mar 06, 2019 12:45 AMNow 1.39. I think that we did dodge a bullet. No reason to monitor closely, I tell myself), many reasons to take precautions. But watching live map of lightning was so cool!
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Mar 06, 2019 01:15 AMSeems Mario Ygnacio in Goleta is the only stream so far reading a higher flow than March 2. I may be wrong. http://rain.cosbpw.net/map/?sensor_class=25&show_thresholds=true&view=8bc6e88f-eeab-4281-9d92-3d723016e945#
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Mar 06, 2019 12:28 AMThere sure were a lot of people pulled over on the side of the road watching the show tonight along Sandpiper golf course and Cathedral Oaks. The Daily Nexus posted a nice photo that *looks* like a lightning strike on an oil platform.
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Mar 06, 2019 12:51 AMRadar looks like one more weaker band is headed our way. Have we dodged the bullet?
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Mar 06, 2019 01:14 AMYou okay, John? This appears to be an auto-repeat.
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Mar 06, 2019 01:54 AMSo far, SBCityCollege & downtown admin building have logged more rain than Montecito -- (Cold Spring Debris Basin is at .92 right now, since I started writing this message and watching KEYT).
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I hope it stays that way! These are the 6 and 12 inch rainfall totals from SB County Public Works sensors. They change quick.
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Mar 06, 2019 02:04 AMLatest satellite water vapor and IR show the next hour and some to probably be the last of the strong rain.
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Mar 06, 2019 01:57 AMLooks like a LOT of yellow still coming in, per radar. here's a Windy pic: https://www.windy.com/-Rain-thunder-rain?rain,34.441,-118.350,8,m:eCzacPA
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Mar 06, 2019 01:59 AMNeed to add that intensities look to be on low side.
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Mar 06, 2019 01:58 AMThat larger band has arrived [email protected] now and it's strengthened some. Time to check resources again...
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Mar 06, 2019 02:00 AMPretty strong radar returns over in the valley too, so this might help with Cachuma levels.
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Mar 06, 2019 02:17 AMFlow rate at lower Montecito Ck is now up at 63cfs, and the East end of Cachuma is getting 660cfs with the lake now at 65.7% (hope that brings it up a percent or two by morning).
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Mar 06, 2019 02:16 AMReports I saw before today said midnight to 3 a.m. might be the most intense. We'll see. Water vapor & IR? Am I missing some sites? I only know of what's been mentioned on this thread today -- oh. I'm not good at exploring tabs and levels. Nice to see you.
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Mar 06, 2019 02:24 AMRate is just now easing up here [email protected] so my sense is the burn areas will ease up in the next half hour or so. Even though the soil's saturated, rates on the county sensors seem to be all below 1/3"/hour. If it doesn't intensify strongly we might be ok. So far this band has gotten a bit stronger coming onshore, but is apparently fairly high because it rains all the way to the San Rafael & Sierra Madre ranges. SBA is reporting light rain right now, ceiling at 5k'. Just while typing this the rain here has eased to light. I'm smiling, and feeling sleepy now. Thanks for joining the late watch YinYang. :)
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Mar 06, 2019 02:33 AMHere comes some more at the bottom of 154/101. Steady but heavy at times.
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Mar 06, 2019 02:38 AMNow I'm just watching KEYT and the County rainfall totals. Cold Springs Debris Basin 6, 12, and 24 hours is .88, 1.07, and 1.10. I just want people to be safe, and no property damage.
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Mar 06, 2019 05:10 AMMud/Dirt/Rock--CHP WEBSITE: 101 N/Seacliff - 4:35 AML PER ADDILT VEH IN CD AND 2 VEHS ON RS NEAR MUD. --3:52 AM BLKG 2 AND 3 LNS.
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