Lightning strike from powerful storm ignites dozens of palm trees, firefighters say

A storm battered San Diego County Monday, toppling trees, flooding urban areas and dousing the county in impressive rain totals before a brief respite on Tuesday.

Much of the county received more than an inch of rain from Monday’s storm, and another half-inch of rain was possible when a second storm moves in overnight Tuesday into Wednesday and from another round of rain Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm also dumped snow atop San Diego County’s highest mountain peaks, and more was possible this week. The Laguna Mountain Lodge webcam in Mt. Laguna appeared to show several inches of snow by Tuesday morning.

Sunshine broke through Tuesday morning, shining a spotlight on the damage done overnight.

Lightning

A lightning strike sparked a fire that burned about 100 palm trees at a nursery in unincorporated Escondido, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

Cal Fire San Diego and several other agencies responded to the about two-acre fire at Moon Valley Nurseries overnight, and remained on scene Tuesday morning to tear up dead trees and clean up the muddy, ashy mess left behind. Crews are also monitoring hot spots after at least one flare-up hours after the fire had been contained.

Flooding

Several roadways remained flooded Tuesday, including west Mission Bay Drive near SeaWorld and the busy Balboa and Clairemont Drive intersection near Interstate 805, according to San Diego police.

Out in Spring Valley on Monday, a swift-water rescue was called for a white sedan that tried its best to cross the Sweetwater River as it went over Quarry Road despite the nearby sign that reads “When flooded, turn around, don’t drown”.

A tow truck arrived to fish the car out when the truck inexplicably drove into the flooded road and got stuck as well. Two young men hopped out of the truck when the duo realized they, too, would need a tow.

Everyone from that scene emerged safely from their flooded vehicles, but their rides are likely not in as good shape.

Toppled trees

On Monday, wicked winds and pouring rain helped a Torrey Pine tree in Pacific Beach come crashing to the ground at Oliver Avenue and Dawes Street. The tree fell on a house and crashed on top of a Tesla vehicle, which only suffered minor damage. The downed tree hurt no one.

“It was really loud and then the house shook a little bit,” said Pacific Beach neighbor Maria Higgins.

She peered outside her house to see the hulking tree’s roots severed on the sidewalk. While some of the branches landed on the roof of the home next door, they didn’t appear to cause any major damage, but that’s yet to be evaluated.

“It’s crazy to think the weather is capable of such a thing,” said Jake Britt, another neighbor.

Crashes

Around 4 a.m. Tuesday, a semi jackknifed on an off-ramp on Interstate 805 and Interstate 5 split northbound in Sorrento Valley. No injuries were reported. The scene was cleared within 2 hours.

And on Monday, a car was found in the shrubs, with a tree toppled on it, near Interstate-805 on Palm Avenue and 47th Street in National City. No other information about the scene was immediately available.

More rain ahead

While Tuesday was sunnier and drier, don’t put away the rain gear just yet. Round two of rain is expected to arrive late Tuesday night, bringing more precipitation, gusty winds and the possibility of a dusting snow at lower elevations, according to NBC 7 meteorologist Greg Bledsoe.

A wind advisory goes back into effect Tuesday at 8 p.m. through Wednesday morning with wind gusts of 45 mph possible in the coastal areas and some isolated stronger gusts. The strongest gusts are expected Tuesday night. Beware of falling trees, especially along the coast, where the ground is saturated and will only become more saturated with the rain on the way, Bledsoe added.

For the mountains, that wind advisory was upgraded to a winter weather advisory through 10 p.m. on Thursday, due to what is expected to be blustry snowfall overnight. Up to a half-foot or more is possible for elevations above 5,000 feet with winds upwards of 50 mph, the NWS said.

“Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact the Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning commutes. Very strong winds could cause extensive tree damage,” the NWS said in an update.

By Wednesday afternoon, things start to quiet down. Shower chances stay in the forecast into Thursday, but the second half of the week looks much drier.

The storm was also creating unsteady surf. San Diego’s coast is under a high surf advisory through Friday. The surf is expected to peak on Wednesday with waves up to 10 feet, and some sets even bigger than that.

Wind and rain will make the surfing conditions far from ideal, and the rip current danger is high. So, it’s probably best to just stay out of the water, Bledsoe said.

Lingering damage

In December 2025, a man died after a tree splintered in half and fell on him in City Heights during a robust storm that hit the region.

In January of this year, rains caused raging floodwaters to pour out of CrossFit ATR in Mission Valley. The owner of the neighboring business, 1502 Candle Co., wasn’t spared either.

Caroline Jackson, business owner of 1502 Candle Co., shared a video of her family cleaning up after floodwaters invaded her business in January for the second time in two years.

Jackson, like others in the office complex off Mission Gorge, was sandbagging and boarding up their stores on Monday, worried that this waterway behind them would swell again and race into their businesses for a third time in two years.

“It’s just horrible. I’m grateful that it wasn’t my home, but at the same time, it’s just, it’s just such a hard thing to go through with your business,” Jackson said.

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