People from across the Central Coast reported hearing and seeing Tuesday night's wild thunderstorm.
"There was a loud boom, boom, boom, multiple bangs. Like real loud," said Shane Hitchcock, a San Luis Obispo resident.
"It's like the sky was lit up and tons of energy. And it was exciting," said Owsley Merrell, from Halcyon.
"It was just light up the room, and it was pretty massive," said Bob Harandi, who was visiting Avila Beach from the Central Valley.
"It was pretty crazy," said Arnold Cruz, who was visiting Avila Beach from Salt Lake City.
According to a meteorologist from the National Weather Service, Tuesday night's thunderstorm was unusually active.
"By our best count, we had on the order of 2660 total lightning strikes, in your general area, including the ocean, where most of the lightning, occurred. Over 2,000 strikes over the waters," said Ryan Kitell, a National Weather Service Meteorologist. "But we did get, and see over Santa Barbara County, 272 lightning strikes, 305 for San Luis Obispo County and 20, over the land areas of Ventura County."
He says there are a few reasons the thunderstorm was so active.
"We had this abnormal low-pressure system just off the coast to provide some cold air aloft. And, and this tongue of, moist tropical air, near the surface. And that's really what, what drove there are a few other factors, but in essence, that's what drove the thunderstorm event that we had," said Kitell.
"We're not used to seeing anything like this. We've been coming here for over 20 years and the lightning last night was out of this world," said Harandi.
Kitell says that there is a chance for some more isolated thunderstorms early next week and that the best way to stay safe during one is by heading indoors.
