Sorry to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but two to three days prior to the intense lightening strikes, there was about four days of persistent jet contrails that left a really heavy haze over the Los Angeles area.

On the last day of this haze, the sun had a really strange intensity. I have an extensive garden in the back and between morning and about 2:00pm, about 80% of the plants had wilted. (I'm a nut about water management and root care. The plants are always properly hydrated.)

Yesterday, in coming over the pass from the San Fernando Valley to the Santa Clarita Valley, the lightening strikes were numerous; very, very rare for here. I would estimate there was a strike about once every 30 seconds to minute and a half and this went on for a good twenty minutes as the storm passed through.

Rosalind Petersen of California Sky Watch has had similar reports; particularly in the Mendecino area.

Tony