Alert archive / California / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Sacramento, CA

September 24, 1986Calaveras County, Tuolumne County, California

NWS Sacramento, CA issued this tornado warning at Sep 24, 1986, 6:12 PM PDT for Calaveras County, Tuolumne County, California. It was in force for 63 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 24, 1986, 6:12 PM PDT (01:12 UTC)
Expired
Sep 24, 1986, 7:15 PM PDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Sacramento, CA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Calaveras County, CA, Tuolumne County, CA

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Oakland, CA (KOAK), launched 00:00Z, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 176 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Oakland, CA at 00:00Z on 1986-09-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 324 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Oakland, CA at 00:00Z on 1986-09-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 87 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
324 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
748 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
87 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
101 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Sep 24, 3:59 PM PDT, 2 hours 13 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO, CA
400 PM PST WED SEP 24 1986

A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PASSED THROUGH THE VALLEY BETWEEN
SACRAMENTO AND MARYSVILLE BETWEEN 3:30 AND 4:00 THIS AFTERNOON.
.11" OF RAIN FELL IN 7 MINUTES IN DOWNTOWN SACRAMENTO AS THE LINE
OF THUNDERSTORMS PASSED THROUGH. THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS
DECREASING IN INTENSITY AS IT MOVED EASTWARD INTO THE SIERRA
FOOTHILLS.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARsNING FOR THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY ENDED
AT 4:00 PM. NO FURTHER ISSUANCE ON THIS STORM IS EXPECTED.
Local storm report, Sep 24, 5:43 PM PDT, 29 minutes before
^SFOLSRRDD
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE REDDING CA
 5:30 PM WED SEP 24, 1986

 THIS LOCAL SEVERE STORM REPORT IS PRELIMINARY. A TOUR OF THE DAMAGE
AREA IS SCHEDULED FOR TOMORROW (THURS. SEPT 25TH) WITH THE LOCAL MIC
AND COUNTY OFFICIALS. A FINAL WRITTEN REPORT WILL GO INTO WSFO SFO
AFTER THE SITUATION IS THOROUGHLY ASSESSED IN NEXT FEW DAYS.

WEATHER EVENT: TORNADO AND SEVERAL FUNNEL CLOUD SIGHTINGS.
LOCATION: SOUTHEAST TEHAMA COUNTY, ROUGHLY HALFWAY BETWEEN CHICO AND
RED BLUFF....BETWEEN SETTLEMENT OF VINA AND THE SACRAMENTO RIVER.
MOVEMENT OF FUNNEL CLOUD: SOUTHEAST TOWARD OROVILLE.
KNOWN DAMAGE: 8 DAMAGED STRUCTURES AND ONE MINOR INJURY (BROKEN ARM)
AREA WEATHER: LARGE LINE OF SEVERE OR NEAR SVR THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP
ED LATE MORNING NORTHERN SACRAMENTO VALLEY...ABUNDANT LOW-LEVEL MOIS-
TURE, COLD ADVECTION ALOFT, INCREASING INSTABILITY AHEAD OF SHORT-
WAVE TROUGH ALONG NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST.         SNOOK, FCSTR

The office that day

Everything else NWS Sacramento, CA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 25, 3:45 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSTOButte90 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in California, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes in 1986

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.