Lightning Strikes Spark Power Outages in Wading River

Sudden thunderstorms in Wading River Friday triggered a series of power outages on Friday afternoon.

According to the Long Island Power Authority, "multiple lightning strikes" caused 82 power outages in Wading River on Friday, as of 2 p.m. 

Lauren Nash of the National Weather Service office in Upton explained that a series of thunderstorms headed east Friday between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. The thunderstorms, she said, did not call for severe warnings but were characterized by "a lot of lightning" with heavy rain and gusty winds.

The storms began in the Sound Beach and Stony Brook area and headed east to Wading River before moving on toward Mattituck along the North Shore. 

The storms, which lasted between 10 to 15 minutes and a half hour, brought approximately one inch of rain per hour, Nash said. Although no thunderstoms were initially forecast until Saturday, Friday's soggy skies were prompted by a sea breeze "that came onshore from the south to the north with enough lift that it was able to spark some thunderstorms," Nash said.