Forecasters warned of another thunderstorm and possible flooding in northern Los Angeles County Sunday, one day after lightning strikes caused multiple small fires in the Southland.
The National Weather Service said a “strong thunderstorm” would impact the Antelope Valley and adjacent foothills through 1:15 p.m. Sunday, with wind gusts up to 50 mph, pea-size hail and some dry lightning strikes likely.
“At 1221 PM PDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near Pearblossom AND Littlerock, approaching Highway 138. This storm was drifting slowly northward at 5 to 10 mph,” the agency said.
A short time later the NWS added a flood advisory for the same area, warning of minor flooding in low-lying and poor drainage areas and dangerous flows over low-water crossings until 3:15 p.m.
Temperatures remained hot Sunday, with a high of 90 degrees in downtown Los Angeles, highs in the mid-to-upper 90s in the valleys, and a high of 99 in Lancaster.
Extreme heat warnings were in place until at least 9 p.m. Sunday in the Santa Clarita Valley, western Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area, Calabasas, Agoura Hills, San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Mountains, Antelope Valley, Antelope Valley Foothills, San Gabriel Valley and the Golden State (5) and Antelope Valley (14) freeway corridors.
On Saturday, a surprise lightning and thunderstorm moved into the northern part of Los Angeles County, sparking multiple fires in the Angeles National Forest.
ANF officials reported separate lightning fires southwest of Little Rock, near Table Mountain, an area of Sunset Peak west of Mt. Baldy and near Old Ridge Route south of state Route 138.
Farther south, firefighters knocked down a small vegetation fire in Rancho Santa Margarita that was ignited by a lightning strike, according to the Orange County Fire Authority.
The Los Angeles Fire Department pre-deployed resources in the area in anticipation of the hot and dry conditions that are conducive to wildfires. State firefighting resources were also dispatched to L.A. County, including 10 fire engines, two water tenders, two bulldozers, one helicopter, two hand crews, thee dispatchers and one Incident Management Team.
Los Angeles opened augmented cooling centers throughout the city and hundreds of locations for relief from the heat. For locations and hours of operation, visit laparks.org/reccenter and lapl.org/branches.
The city was also opening additional cooling centers that are accessible to people with disabilities and were open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday at the following locations:
— Canoga Park Senior Citizen Center, 7326 Jordan Ave.; and
— North Hollywood Senior Citizen Center, 5301 Tujunga Ave.
On Sunday:
— Chinatown Brnach Library, 639 N. Hill St.; and
— Pacoima Branch Library, 13605 Van Nuys Blvd.
A gradual cooling trend was expected to begin Monday, with most valley temperatures returning to the mid-to-upper 80s by the end of the week.