Hail, destructive wind, cracking thunder and streaks of lightning. Trees down, power out and a lot of people running for cover.

What did you think was going to happen after a week of torrid weather?

A chain of storms moving into Maine from New Hampshire on Wednesday night caused havoc. Weather experts said the storm was predictable after all the heat, but that didn’t make it any less dangerous.

“This is an extremely dangerous situation,” a bulletin from the National Weather Service said. “Move indoors immediately! Seek shelter now inside a sturdy structure and stay away from windows!”

After days of 90-plus-degree weather, not everyone was complaining about it. The sudden storm cooled things off and provided a bit of evening excitement.

“It’s amazing here,” gushed Nancy Townsend Johnson in East Dixfield. “Lightning bright enough to hurt my eyes and thunder that just rolls on forever. Rain and wind, too, but the lightning is the really remarkable thing. I’m sitting here in the dark in order to enjoy it to the fullest!”

In Franklin and Oxford counties, the storm rolled in around 9 p.m. It came with blasts of thunder, crackling lightning and whistling winds. There were reports of hail and lightning strikes in parts of New Hampshire and other forms of chaos in Maine.

“We’re getting reports of high winds, trees down and everything else,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Kispner at about 9:45 p.m.

Heavy rain was reported just about everywhere, Kispner said. Winds were measured at roughly 50 mph in places, just short of the 58 mph considered to be severe. By 10 p.m., it was only just beginning.

“It’s a pretty good line of storms moving through,” Kispner said.

By 10 p.m. in the Lewiston area, things were just starting to get loud and wet. The wind was picking up and thunder was almost nonstop.

Still, not many complaints.

“Lost TV satellite here in Monmouth,” Julie Bergeron said. “But the light show is awesome.”

By 10 p.m., nearly 500 people were without power in Oxford County, according to Central Maine Power. About half that number were out in Franklin County, while scattered outages were reported in other areas.

Police and fire crews just about everywhere were sent scrambling on a variety of calls. Alarms were sounding due to power surges. Trees were down on power lines and traffic lights stopped working.

They could consider it practice for things to come: More hot weather and thunderstorms are in the forecast for Thursday.

mlaflamme@sunjournal.com