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3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW More thunderstorms expected ... Medford airport sets all-time record for passengers ... Medford pot ban may not last ... More thunderstorms expected ... Medford airport sets all-time record for passengers ... Medford pot ban may not last ... WEATHER Direct hit: Storm leaves destruction in its wake By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Posted Jul. 8, 2015 @ 8:10 am Updated Jul 8, 2015 at 5:34 PM Reader Kelly Rose shared this slow-motion video of lightning seen from Eagle Point during a dramatic thunderstorm July 7. By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Posted Jul. 8, 2015 @ 8:10 am Updated Jul 8, 2015 at 5:34 PM » RELATED CONTENT • SOCIAL MEDIA: Residents share photos of lightning, damage • Storm photos from our readers • Lightning over Medford » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> Michael Nixon had been fleeing a storm-canceled baseball game when he got a call that a tree had fallen on a Subaru in his Medford car lot. His son's Little League team had just mounted a movie-worthy comeback, turning a 10-1 deficit into a 13-10 winning score when the storm clouds surged into the area. "As the game was called due to the weather, and I was running out to the car to get away from the lightning and the wind, my landlord called and said that a tree had broken in half and fallen on top of one of my cars," said Nixon, owner of iCars at 1201 N. Riverside Ave. Nixon arrived to find a tree sheared in half, with the brunt of the falling limbs and trunk burying a Subaru and another piece striking a Toyota Land Cruiser nearby. "It must have been some amazing wind to snap a tree in half like it did," Nixon said. "I've lived in Florida through hurricanes. I've never had a tree on my house or my car. I've seen it happen to others, but I've never been a direct victim of it." A thunderstorm that steamrolled parts of Jackson County Tuesday night left a trail of debris in its wake and more than 6,000 homes and businesses without power. National Weather Service officials said the storm originally formed over the Siskiyou Mountains, then moved north-northwest into the Rogue Valley just before 8 p.m. The gunmetal clouds brought wind gusts of up to 55 mph to Medford, ankle-high water to parts of Ashland, a nasty trail of downed power lines and trees, and about 350 air-to-ground lightning strikes during a two-hour period. "It was definitely crazy," meteorologist Misty Duncan said. "It was the best I've seen in this town so far." Parts of Ashland picked up more than an inch of rain, Duncan said. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival had to cancel "The Count of Monte Cristo" in the outdoor Allen Elizabethan Theatre, and t here was flooding in various low areas in buildings around the festival, said Amy Richard, media and communications manager. "But we’re working on getting things cleaned up," she said by email. Ashland Fire & Rescue responded to several flooding calls as the storm passed overhead. "We had ankle-high water for about 40 minutes," firefighter Trent Stoy said. Kevin Caldwell of Talent said his family narrowly avoided injury right after the power went out at their home off South Pacific Highway when a tree fell and collapsed the roof. “(My parents) heard the tree snap and a second after that it crashed on our roof,” Caldwell said, adding electronics, clothes and family photos were damaged by the toppled tree. He and his family stayed a night in a motel, put up by their landlord, but were trying to figure out their next move Wednesday, as their home was left uninhabitable. It has also since been burglarized, Caldwell said. Buckhorn Springs, south of Ashland near the Siskiyou Summit, received half an inch of rain, while Parker Mountain in the Siskiyous received three-tenths of an inch. By the time the storm had reached Medford, the precipitation component had mostly fizzled, leaving behind just under one-tenth of an inch in Medford. "Mostly it was focused on the south. Ashland, Talent, Phoenix area," Duncan said. Gusts of 55 mph were recorded in Medford, while 25 mph gusts were recorded in Central Point. Ashland saw 44 mph bursts of wind. The winds knocked down power poles, sent trees crashing into homes and littered streets with tree limbs. Medford Fire-Rescue battalion chief Rick Rohrbaugh said the agency responded to dozens of calls overnight, most of them about felled trees and downed electrical lines. "We had numerous transformers on fire. Numerous wires on limbs. Numerous trees through houses," Rohrbaugh said Wednesday morning. "They're still down today." Logs from Emergency Communications of Southern Oregon show close to 50 calls for power line-related issues over about a 12-hour period, starting at about 7:45 p.m. About 6,400 customers across the Rogue Valley lost power. "Most of them went out right when the storm hit, about 8:04 to 8:12 (p.m.)," said Ry Schwark, Pacific Power spokesman. "A lot of it was wind- and tree-related." Technicians restored power in spurts throughout the night, Schwark added . Most of the remaining 700 scattered outages were restored Wednesday. Pacific Power officials reported additional crews from Grants Pass, Klamath Falls, and Yreka had to be pulled in to help. Schwark urged area residents to report downed power lines if they see them, and to stay at least 20 feet away from them. Lightning strikes pummeled most of southern Jackson County and reached as far north as Medford and Central Point, according to Oregon Department of Forestry maps. A structure fire, possibly caused by a lightning strike, roared to life in the attic space at a home in the 3000 block of Annapolis Drive in east Medford at about 10:47 p.m., drawing four engines to the home. The homeowner was out of town, and crews were able to keep the flames confined to the attic area. "Heavy lightning in the immediate area may have played a part in the ignition," Rohrbaugh said, adding the agency will continue to investigate the cause. Other fire agencies said a majority of their calls were also related to downed lines and trees. "We had a barrage of just trees down on power lines and power lines down," Jackson County Fire District 3 battalion chief Myron Harvey said. District 3 also responded to several reported grass fires out in the Agate Lake area, but rain snuffed all the starts by the time crews arrived on scene, Harvey said. A chance for additional thunderstorms is forecast through at least Saturday night, the weather service said. Reach reporter Ryan Pfeil at 541-776-4468 or [email protected] . Follow him at www.twitter.com/ryanpfeil . JD Anderson took this video of Tuesday's flooding on the Ashland Plaza. By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Posted Jul. 8, 2015 @ 8:10 am Updated Jul 8, 2015 at 5:34 PM » Comment or view comments /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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