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A storm system that produced heavy rains, high winds and lightning caused power outages in the Buffalo and Union areas Thursday evening.

Meteorolgist Jeffrey Taylor with the National Weather Service in Greer said Friday morning that the Upstate has been under “an upper trough pattern” for the past several days. Taylor said the trough, which continues to linger over the Upstate, has generated a great deal of moisture and instability in the atmosphere that generated Thursday’s storm and has the potential to generate more before it finally moves out of the area.

Thursday’s storm dumped an average of one inch of rain in the area, though Taylor said in some isolated cases as much as three inches of rain fell. The storm also generated high winds and lightning which left some Union County residents briefly without power Thursday evening.

City of Union Utility Department Electric Division Director Clarence Auton said Friday morning that there were three outages on the city system as a result of the storm. Auton said the outages all occurred around 8 p.m. and affected city customers in Buffalo, the Sardis Road area, and in Union. He said in one instance the outage was caused by a tree toppled by high winds while lightning was to blame in the other two.

Auton said the outage in Buffallo occurred when a tree fell on a power line serving Church Street. He said the outage, which lasted approximately 45 minutes, cut power for 12-15 customers.

The next outage occurred when lightning struck a transformer on the Sardis Road. Auton said the lightning strike knocked out power to 15-18 residents on Peacewood Drive. He said this outage also lasted approximately 45 minutes before power was restored.

The third outage was the largest, effecting the West Henrietta Street, Tilman Street, and Chambers Avenue area of Union. Auton said lightning strikes shorted out four transformers, cutting off power to 30-40 residents in the area. As with the other outages, Auton said power was restored after approximately 45 minutes.