Over 5,000 lightning strikes were detected throughout California Wednesday, with 985 located in the Bay Area and Central Coast. Plus, two storms are forecasted this coming week, with an inch of rain expected in the North Bay and half an inch in SF.

As SFGate reports, a storm system originating in the subtropics is due to arrive in the Bay Area early Monday, while a second storm is expected to hit early Wednesday. National Weather Service (NWS)  meteorologist Nicole Sarment told SFGate that both storms are coming from the Gulf of Alaska and will be centered over the North Bay, which is expected to receive an inch of rain by the end of the week. San Francisco will likely get half an inch of rain, and the East Bay a quarter inch. The outlet reports that the rain is expected to dissipate by late Thursday with warmer weather arriving on Friday, just in time for the weekend.

Per SFGate, there’s only a 15% chance of lightning during the two incoming storms, unlike last Wednesday and Thursday when California skies were lit up by over 5,000 lightning events, as Bay Area News Group reports. There were 88 “cloud-to-ground” lightning strikes detected in the East Bay and South Bay between 7 pm Wednesday and 7 am Thursday, according to US Forest Service spokesperson Adrienne Freeman, as KRON4 reports.

NWS meteorologist Roger Gass told the Bay Area News Group that between late Tuesday night and early Thursday morning, 985 lightning strikes were spotted in the Bay Area and Central Coast region. Wildfires were a concern along the Central Coast, which was most impacted by the strikes — firefighters were monitoring 173 locations in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, per KRON4.

As the Bay Area readies for the incoming rain on Monday, NWS’s Sarment warns residents to be careful on the roads, explaining via SFGate that steady rain can bring oils to the surface, causing roadways to become very slick. “Make sure you’re driving slower with lights on,” she advised.

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