Mother Nature put on a show Saturday night in the sky - and on the ground much of southern B.C. was hammered by severe weather of the type we haven't seen in years, according to Environment Canada.
Trees were tossed onto power lines and one tree even hit a home in Kelowna. Some 12,000 lightning bolts struck the ground, starting several fires and even shocking four surprised campers in Golden Ears Provincial Park.
"This is the first significant thunderstorm we've had in recent memory," said Environment Canada meteorologist Gary Dickinson, adding that the last such storm was recorded in 2004.
The wacky weather was caused by a low-pressure system in Washington State that sent out spirals of storms northwards - that's why it seemed to hit the whole province at once, he said.
In Chilliwack massive downpours flooded streets and gave residents a lot of cleaning up to do. Residents were shocked at the amounts of rain - some 6.5 mm, but in the space of only two hours.
"It's Niagra Falls at my front door," said Brad Claridge at the height of what he called a "monsoon."
Lightning struck a tree near Cranbrook and started a fire next to a home. Firefighters were able to respond quickly because they were already out on the road because of other fire-related calls.
"We could have lost everything," the owner told CTV News.
But perhaps the storm struck closest to home when two adults from Burnaby and two children from Surrey were struck by lightning in Golden Ears Provincial Park.
The four were walking along a road but took shelter under a tree when the storm started, the campsite's owner said.
The lightning struck the tree, struck them, and struck two other vehicles as well, deploying their airbags, he said.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Jon Woodward
