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Tornadoes in California & the PANW

On this day 42 years ago, the most prolific tornado outbreak to impact California struck Los Angeles.

Tornado Archive Data Explorer - Tornado Archive and 7 more pages - Personal - Microsoft Edge ...png

Notable Naders:

Malibu F1 - Lifted a catamaran 125 feet into the air, damaging a few houses

Van Nuys F2 - Caused $250,000 when it heavily damaged a department store

Port of Long Beach F2 - Began as a waterspout, then moved ashore 10 miles inland, damaging numerous homes and blowing down at least 300 trees, path width was at least 1300 yds.
 
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Per the Portland FD, the low coming in from the Gulf of Alaska involves a strong pressure gradient and has an associated jet.

They mentioned the possibility of waterspouts earlier today. Here in the valley, up against the eastern edge of the Coast Range, we'll probably just get rain and some wind.
 
Today marks 9 years since the 2015 Turlock-Denair tornado - the worst in Stanislaus County. Over $1.2 million was inflicted along Zeering Rd, with at least 20 homes damaged, and a barn completely destroyed. No injuries were reported, and the twister was documented on multiple angles.









 
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SpotlightForRareTornadoes said:
80 Years Ago - The November 1944 Pomona Tornado
Click to expand...
That's a long track. Thankfully, it didn't make the Tornado Project's list of California's worst, and I didn't see it on the NWS list, either (PDF download).

Do you have more info on it?
 
bjdeming said:
That's a long track. Thankfully, it didn't make the Tornado Project's list of California's worst, and I didn't see it on the NWS list, either (PDF download).

Do you have more info on it?
Click to expand...
Due to the event occurring before 1950, it is not recorded by the NWS. However, I found a news article on the Wayback Machine that mentioned the tornado

Wayback Machine and 4 more pages - Personal - Microsoft​ Edge 11_29_2024 10_46_21 PM.png
 
On this day...

10 years ago - an EF0 tornado in South LA caused minor damage as it passed over homes and a billboard

Only Footage I Could Find



55 years ago - A powerful F3 tornado swept through White Center, WA, south of Seattle, damaging or destroying up to 100 homes and causing one injury. It remains as the worst tornado to hit Kings County to this day. The tornado began as a tornadic waterspout over Puget Sound, before making landfall and initially produced F1 damage. As it crossed the Highway 99/Kent Des-Moines Rd intersection, it rapidly gained F3 strength and severely damaged dozens of buildings, including the Highline Community College, totaling multiple cars in the parking lot. As it crossed over I-5, it tried to take a camper and a small car along with it, but both vehicles luckily were not too far from the road by the time the twister let them go. the tornado dissipated northeast of South Park after a total of just 4 miles on the ground. The tornado had a small width of only 100 yards and was highly visible for most of its life





1734049394232.png

This is the only known photo of the tornado, taken near the Boeing Space Center. It is also used in the thumbnail of Weatherbox's video on the '72 Portland-Vancouver tornado. Here is a link to an article for more info: https://www.historylink.org/File/21386
 
There's a wind-driven severe weather risk for the Bay Area, but I believe there is a sliver possibility of a tornadic event happening tomorrow. This prediction may certainly not guarantee a tornado, funnel cloud, or tornado warning (especially since the tornado risk is negligible according to the N.W.S), but considering that the majority of tornado events in the state have been non-supercellular, it is a factor to keep in mind even if the experts say not to worry. Out here, during an atmospheric river, especially 1734158133846.png
one that has a lot of moisture, it is a good idea to keep an eye on the unexpected. In December, there is an average of 2 tornadoes per year in California, which means the odds of a tornado occurring in December are 2/30 days.
But for now, the real danger is from high winds and LOTS of rain.
 
Here are the average numbers of tornadoes you can typically see in California, according to groundzeroshelters.com

  • January – 1
  • February – 2
  • March – 2
  • April – 1
  • May – 1
  • June – 0
  • July – 0
  • August – 1
  • September – 0
  • October – 0
  • November – 1
  • December – 2
 
So, if it's, like for example, November, you have a 1/30 chance you will experience a tornadic event somewhere in the state. There is apparently not one, but three peaks in our "tornado season", with one in December, then the second in February, and the last, and our peak of the peaks for the entire year, March. In any of these 3 months, you will probably experience a tornadic event twice out of the 30/31 days of these months. And just like in the Deep South, California has its own "second season" in August. That's usually due to the monsoonal activity that mainly covers the New Mexico, Arizona, and Southern California deserts, which are capable of producing landspouts (though some of them also find their way into the Sierra Nevada mountains due to the risk of tornadic firestorms caused by wildfires.) The only months that are usually tornado-free are June, July, September, and October. But again, tornadoes often use the peak wildfire season as their cheat codes around this (like 2018, 2020, and this year for example.)

And that's my best explanation for California's tornado season. :)
 
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