The Toiyabe Forest Fire as seen from  Mono Lake.

A huge thunderstorm hit the Owens Valley Sunday evening. It was a gully washer that caused alerts for flash floods in Death Valley, sent torrents through

Flooded yard.

residents’ yards and started a dozen or so lightning fires.

Tim Dunphy, Acting Fire Manager for the Forest Service and BLM, said that he and his crews were watching about a dozen lightning fires spread out in the areas of Bishop, Benton, and Cottonwood in the Southern Inyo Mount Whitney district. Dunphy said they are small fires.

Another fire on the Toiyabe National Forest is not so small. Dunphy said it’s about a 10,000 acre fire a mile and a half east of Bodie and north of Highway 167 in Nevada. Dunphy said he could see the fire glow from Highway 395 all the way down to Crowley.

Heavy rains may have helped control that fire and others. Weather forecasts indicate thunderstorms might continue through Wednesday.