WATCH: Heavy rain falling in Gold River as a storm brought intense lightning and thunder to the area. Video courtesy Mike Young.
Central Vancouver Island residents had a wet start to their Wednesday thanks to an intense thunderstorm.
People in Gold River say heavy rain started falling just after 7 a.m., with lightning and loud claps of thunder rattling the area.
Alyshia Larsen tweeted lightning strikes were close to town and the thunder was strong enough to shake houses.
@CHEK_News @deanstoltzchek thunder and lightning storm in Gold River this morning! Started at about 07:15 and is still going strong (08:20) We had extremely heavy rain as well. Many of the strikes were very close to town and the thunders claps shook houses. #summerstorm pic.twitter.com/6RYCt1ZKf7
— Alyshia Larsen (@AlyshiaLarsen) June 20, 2018
Intense lightning also hit areas northwest of Tahsis.
The forecast for Gold River and Tahsis Wednesday shows a chance of thunderstorms continuing into the afternoon, but expected to clear in the evening.