Our dry spell came to an end as Butler County saw rain Tuesday, with more to come throughout the week, according to experts.

“The stuff that happened this morning came from the Midwest,” said Shannon Hefferan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service of Pittsburgh.

Thunderstorms hit the county around 9 a.m., and the act of Mother Nature prompted a few calls to emergency dispatchers.

Before the morning storm fizzled around noon, there were three calls for lightning strikes.

Two that had been in Butler County resulted in no injuries and needed no significant response. However, firefighters from Cranberry Township, Harmony and Callery were called to a structure fire on Route 588 in Marion Township, Beaver County.

According to the report to Butler County 911 dispatchers, the fire had been caused by a lightning strike.

Scott Garing, who is chief of the Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Company and Harmony Fire District, said the rain provided no assistance in dousing the house fire.

“When we're fighting fire, we spray in a targeted spot so the rain doesn't really help us,” he said. “It just gets us wet.”

Garing also said due to the location of the house, the fire required several departments to fight it.

“It was in a rural area where there was no water supply, so they called in a bunch of fire departments for tankers to get water,” Garing said. “There was extensive damage to the second floor, and water and smoke damage throughout the rest.”

There were no injuries, he said.

In addition to the lightning strikes, there were two calls for downed wires.

“The moisture in the area will create instability and will create thunderstorms,” Hefferan said. “In the summertime, it doesn’t take much.”

The National Weather Service of Pittsburgh has not placed any advisories into effect, but a hazardous weather outlook in place warned of isolated instances of large hail, damaging winds and flooding.

According to the weather service, Tuesday marks the first of four days with expected rain.

“In the South Dakota area, there’s a cluster of storms there that might come here in the next few days,” Hefferan said.

Hefferan said while storms are on the horizon, the worst of the bad weather should hit south of Pittsburgh near the border with West Virginia.

The forecast said rains are expected to continue through the afternoon, then wane in the evening. Rain and thunderstorms are expected again after 3 p.m. Wednesday and continuing into Wednesday night.

Scattered showers and thunderstorms are again predicted throughout the day Thursday and Friday, before mostly sunny weather predicted Saturday.