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Wild Weather Scene In Sierra With Summer Thunderstorm

TRUCKEE (CBS13) - While those in the Central Valley sweltered in another hot, hazy day on Tuesday, it was a much different scene in the mountains as thunder, lighting, hail and rain rolled across parts of the Sierra.

As soon as the thunder and lightning moved in on Tuesday afternoon, the paddling stopped at Donner Lake.

It came down with a fury, fast and fierce, with drops more like daggers as they pelted the ground. It was enough of a downpour to force a flash flood warning for a couple hours.

The thunder roared and people in Donner Lake, well, they ran.

"As soon as we heard thunder, we made sure we got the rentals in," beach attendant Nolan Fischer said.

Then the kayaks sat idle when on any given summer day there'd be a hundred of them out in the water.

And then there's the Elders family. They drove in from the Bay Area, and guess where they put their luggage? Yes, in the back of their boat uncovered.

"Our stuff got absolutely soaked," Chris Elders said. "So we just arrived here, threw our stuff inside and know we're going to see if we can get the boat out in the water."

The quick downpour did little for Tahoe's dry conditions. It's going to take a lot more than this refreshing rainfall to quench the trees' thirst.

"It's a nice change. Unfortunately, we had a very dry winter so we need a whole lot more," said Scott Conway with the Truckee Fire Protection District.

A nice change that calmed down after a couple minutes, making way for the sun to stream through the storm clouds, creating a stunning sight people haven't seen much of this summer.

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