Yes, there was plenty of lightning Wednesday morning in the desert

While you were sleeping (or while you were trying to sleep but couldn’t because of all the damn thunder), an unexpected thunderstorm brought rain and plenty of lightning to the Coachella Valley and High Desert.

Here’s what it looked like:

I waited out in the rain for this!????

A post shared by christian martinez (@csm100) on Jul 18, 2018 at 4:17am PDT

Its Wednesday may it be as exciting as the beginning of the day #storm #weather #coachellavalley #monsoon #rain #lightning #bolt #electricity #light

A post shared by Chris (@tarps_photos) on Jul 18, 2018 at 5:46am PDT

3:45 AM lightning/thunderstorm in the desert ???? #beautiful #nature #coachellavalley #palmsprings #bermudadunes #wokemeup #iloveit #pixieofthedesert #pixietravels

A post shared by Pixie (@pixieofthedesert) on Jul 18, 2018 at 7:51am PDT

And, yes, it was a lot of lightning in both the Coachella Valley and the High Desert.

Hi Kelley! The High Desert had 19 cloud to ground strikes, and the Coachella Valley had 26 strikes. The bulk of the lightning strikes were just northeast of the Coachella Valley! ⚡️

— NWS San Diego (@NWSSanDiego) July 18, 2018

As far as rainfall, not a ton overnight – but every bit helps:

Coachella Valley Rainfall Totals!
Those pre-dawn SoCal thunderstorms brought some precipitation to the High Desert from 0.01" (Yucca Valley) to 0.10" (Joshua Tree NP). Widely scattered amounts fell in the Coachella Valley.@KESQ pic.twitter.com/fu46hz8tXI

— Jerry Steffen™ KESQ (@JerrySteffen) July 18, 2018

The forecast is calling for a chance of thunderstorms throughout the day on Wednesday through Saturday and, as we have seen, you never know what’s in store when it comes ot weather this time of year in the desert – so make sure those windshield wipers and tires are in good shape, just in case.