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Birds gather on the shore at the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge in Calipatria.
Investigators are probing the source of a rotten egg odor from the desert to the San Fernando Valley.
The cause of the smell remains unknown, but some officials believe the bad smell may be coming from a summer storm and a fish die off at the Salton Sea, although authorities at the Salton Sea initially denied they were the source.
Kevin Martin, a meteorologist with the independent Southern California Weather Authority, said a strong thunderstorm system moved north from Mexico late Sunday, Sept. 9, bringing in winds as strong as 70 miles per hour to the Saltan Sea areas.
The unusual storm pushed the air from above the sea to the west. It then went through the San Gorgonio Pass, and into the Inland valleys, Martin said. Winds normally flow from west to east.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District, however, has not identified a source of the odors, but the agency has dispatched inspectors to investigate.
The air district received more than100 calls reporting a strong, foul rotten egg or sulfur odor, district officials said in statement.
Possible sources include fish kills, algae blooms and other biologic conditions in lakes that can cause strong odors, the statement said. Industrial facilities such as wastewater plants also can cause sulfur odors.
Comment: It's the second mysterious disease to affect elk population around the world recently:
Swedish experts baffled by 'mystery' elk illness