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Over 100 Lightning Strikes Occur Throughout Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / KCBS) — More lightening strikes were possible in the Bay Area on Wednesday, forecasters said, as the result of an unusual weather system.

The National Weather Service estimated there were probably more than 100 lightning strikes around the San Francisco Bay Area on Tuesday night.

"Lightning and thunder doesn't happen often in the Bay Area," observed National Weather Service forecaster Diana Henderson, so some local residents were startled as a result.

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The weather service warned that more isolated thunderstorms were possible throughout the Bay Area, including in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, throughout the day on Wednesday.

"Last night we had lightening strikes anywhere from San Jose up through the San Francisco Airport as a thunderstorm developed around San Jose about 11 o'clock or so and moved northwest toward SFO," said Mark Strobin, another NWS forecaster. "We had quite a bit of lightning between Half Moon Bay and Pescadero."

Overnight, lightning strikes near the Pacifica coast were ongoing for more than half an hour beginning around 2 a.m., the NWS reported.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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