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Thunderstorm rocks valley Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell By MELISSA MARTIN PHOENIX - Brick mason Jerry Rhoads and his wife, Barbara, heard an ear-splitting crack at 5:30 a.m. Saturday. But they assumed it was only a close encounter with thunder. But when they went outside to get the newspaper at daylight and saw shingles scattered across the driveway, they knew something was amiss. After a little investigating, they discovered lightning had struck their home off of Culver Road in Phoenix, leaving a perfectly round, 8-inch hole in the roof, searing the siding on the garage and exposing the sheet rock to the rain. "I've never had any encounter with a lightning strike," said Barbara Rhoads, retired from banking. She estimates it will cost at least $2,000 to repair the damage to the home that's not yet a year old. The strike occurred on the side of the house where the cable and telephone boxes are located, next to a tall tree and near the railroad tracks, Rhoads said. "Some of our friends think the lightning might have struck the tracks or the tree first," she said. When the lightning struck, the timer on the kitchen stove began buzzing furiously and then stopped working altogether. "It's weird," she said. That bolt was one of 765 down strikes counted from about 4 to 8 a.m. in Jackson County by meteorologists at the Medford airport Saturday morning. Thunder clapped so loud it woke slumbering children and frightened pets. Thunder was recorded between 4:09 to 7:15 a.m. at the National Weather Service office in Medford, said weather service specialist Roger Gerig. More of the same was expected Saturday night and possibly today, weather forecasters said. The skies Saturday morning opened just a crack. Only .34 inches, or one-third of an inch, of rain was measured at the airport. However, a volunteer weather spotter measured 1 inch at his south Central Point home. The brewing storms came from the Pacific Ocean near Crescent City, Calif., tracked across the Coast Range and rumbled over Rogue Valley residents, Gerig said. The National Weather Service counted 72 lightning strikes from 3-4 a.m., 121 strikes from 4-5 a.m., 343 from 5-6 a.m., 196 from 6-7 a.m. and 33 from 7-8 a.m. "And those are just the strikes, not the cloud-to-cloud lightning," Gerig said. "It was unusual that it sat over us that long," Gerig said. "It's been a couple of years since we've had a good thunderstorm that close. Last year, we got almost none." Thunderstorms or showers, expected Saturday night, may return today. Highs may be 80 to 85 with a light northwest wind of 5-10 mph, and tonight's lows 50-55, Gerig said. Monday's forecast calls for mostly sunny skies with highs 84-89 and northwest winds 5-10 mph. Monday's lows may be in the 50s. The extended forecast shows highs between 85-90 Tuesday and Wednesday through Friday, highs in the 80s, lows 45-50. Temperatures may cool to the 70s Saturday and the clouds may return. Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4497, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.