LAKE COUNTY >> A surprise summer thunderstorm brought heavy rain, hail, wind, lightning, and numerous weather-related headaches to a parched Lake County late Wednesday afternoon into early evening, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a flood advisory for parts of the county.
The storm was felt most heavily on Clear Lake’s Northshore, including Clearlake Oaks, Spring Valley, Nice, Lucerne and Upper Lake. Lesser effects were reported in the Lakeport, Clearlake and Kelseyville areas.
The rain was welcomed by many residents who are suffering through the fourth year of California’s drought and are under mandatory water use restrictions. Until Monday, Lake County had temperatures with highs in the upper 90s and 100s for a few weeks. Wednesday’s highs were in the 80s.
The heaviest rain in the county, 1.53 inches, was recorded at the High Grade Lookout north of Upper Lake, according to the NWS in Sacramento. Other totals as of 8:15 p.m. Wednesday included 0.95 of an inch in south Lakeport and 0.47 of an inch near Spring Valley. In other areas, including Hidden Valley Lake, no measurable rain was reported.
The brunt of the storm hit between 4 and 7 p.m. causing an array of problems for the Northshore Fire Protection District, CalFire and the California Highway Patrol (CHP).
At 5:10 p.m. Wednesday, the NWS in Sacramento issued a “significant weather advisory” for Upper Lake, Nice, Lucerne and Clearlake Oaks — including Spring Valley — due to dime-sized hail, gusty winds up to 40 mph, lightning strikes, and “torrential downpours” with pooling of water on roads and flooding of creeks and streams.
CalFire and Northshore responded to a report of a landslide and water and debris flowing into a house in the 200 block of Morine Ranch Road in Clearlake Oaks shortly after 5 p.m. Firefighters were able to divert the flow away from the house but not before water and mud had already entered the structure, according to radio scanner reports.
In Lakeport, a tree was reported down on Beach Lane. In Spring Valley, branches from a downed tree blocked the southbound lane of New Long Valley Road. A nearby resident said she heard a loud cracking sound around 5:30 p.m. and came out to find the fallen tree.
The woman, aided by several motorists who stopped, quickly cleared the debris out of the road and left the scene just as fast once the work was done. Boulders, other debris and standing water dotted New Long Valley Road from Shasta Road to Highway 20.
A CalFire official was on the scene of a non-injury auto accident on Highway 20 in Glenhaven around 6 p.m. Wednesday where a red pickup truck lay on its side on the shoulder of the northbound lane. The truck’s lone occupant was not injured. At 6:45 p.m., the CalFire official and truck occupant were still waiting for fire crews and the CHP to arrive.
The delay in a response was primarily due to fire and law enforcement personnel being overwhelmed with storm-related incidents, including downed trees, power pole transformer fires, minor auto accidents, and small wildland fires caused by lightning strikes from Upper Lake to the Mendocino County border, according to the CalFire battalion chief. Due to weather conditions, air ambulance crews could not assist with a three-car accident on Highway 29 near Merritt Road in Kelseyville, where one person involved was reported having difficulty breathing.
Several dozen comments from Lake County residents were posted to the NWS Facebook page Wednesday, reporting flooding in Clearlake, Kelseyville, and Clear Lake Riviera; rain and hail the size of marbles along Highway 29 between Park Way and Whalen Way in Lakeport that damaged nearby fields of sunflowers; and heavy rain in Witter Springs. Thunder and lightning were reported throughout the county well into Wednesday night.
