Light sleepers and late nighters enjoyed a loud and bright light show in the early morning hours on Tuesday. Thunder bellowed for hours and the lightning resembled the strobe lights at a discotheque.
More than 400 strikes occurred on the Hill, but as of 8 a.m. none had triggered a fire response, according to San Jacinto Ranger District Fire Chief Dan Felix.
The storm knocked the Fern Valley Water District filtration plant out of commission, according to Steve Erler, general manager. He expects a transducer will have to be replaced. Neither Idyllwild nor Pine Cove water districts incurred any storm damage.
By 6 a.m. rain had begun to fall. The Forest Service’s Keenwild weather station recorded .55 inches by 8 a.m. Since July 1, the total rain fall recorded at Keenwild has been 2.02 inches.
By Sept. 16, 2010, the Idyllwild Fire Station had record only .1 inches of rain and only .29 inches by Sept. 16, 2009.
Despite the dry summer and early fall, total rain (July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011) was nearly 29.4 inches, or 14.4 percent more than the long-term average.
Since 1946, the average rain fall through Sept. 30 has been 2.4 inches, which hasn’t happened in Idyllwild since 2004.
