Alert archive / California / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 1, NWS San Diego, CA

January 17, 1990San Diego County, California

NWS San Diego, CA issued this tornado warning at Jan 17, 1990, 12:02 PM PST for San Diego County, California. It was in force for 58 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jan 17, 1990, 12:02 PM PST (20:02 UTC)
Expired
Jan 17, 1990, 1:00 PM PST
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS San Diego, CA
Area
Whole counties

County San Diego 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

San Diego, CA (KNKX), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 47 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, San Diego, CA at 12:00Z on 1990-01-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, San Diego, CA at 12:00Z on 1990-01-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 10 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
763 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
53 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, Jan 17, 8:31 AM PST, 3 hours 31 minutes before
CAZ011-012-013-020-171800-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
8 AM PST WED JAN 17 1990

...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY TODAY...
...HAIL IN CHULA VISTA...

HAIL BEGINNING TO PILE UP IN PARTS OF SAN DIEGO AT CHULA VISTA.
FIRE STATION NUMBER 3 ABOUT 4 MILES SOUTH OF AT MELROSE AND PALOMAR
ROADS REPORTED HEAVY PEA SIZE HAIL PILING UP.

HAIL IS COMING FROM A HEAVY STORM CELL MOVING EAST AND IS PART OF THE
VIGOROUS WINTER STORM THAT MOVED INTO SAN DIEGO OVERNIGHT.  THE STORM
IS EXTREMELY COLD AND HAIL IS A CHARACTERISTIC OF COLD STORMS.  HAIL
CAN BE EXPECTED IN OTHER PARTS OF SAN DIEGO TODAY AND THIS EVENING.

A WINTER STORM WARNING HAS BEEN POSTED FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF SAN DIEGO
COUNTY FOR SNOW DOWN TO 2000 FEET BUT THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR SNOW TO
FALL AS LOW AS 1500 FEET THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.  A FOOT OF NEW
SNOW CAN ACCUMULATE IN THE MOUNTAINS.

THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE COAST CAN ALSO PRODUCE HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS
TO BOATERS.   THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE ACCOMANIED BY HEAVY RAIN...
ERRATIC GUSTY WINDS TO 70 MPH...POSSIBLE HAIL...AND ROUGH SEAS OF 9
TO 12 FEET TODAY.

THE GROUNDS ARE SATURATED AND LOCAL DOWNPOURS CAN PRODUCE STREET
FLOODING TODAY.  STORM TOTAL TODAY ARE ESTIMATED UP TO A HALF
INCH BUT INCH INLAND.

THE STORM WILL WEAKEN THURSDAY MORNING LEAVING BEHIND A FEW DEPARTING
SHOWERS.  THE STORM WILL END THURSDAY AFTERNOON.  DRY CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED FRIDAY.  THE NEXT STORM FROM THE GULF OF ALASKA IS WEAKENING
AS IT APPROACHES THE WEST COAST.  DOUBTFUL MUCH OF IT WILL REMAIN AS
IT COMES INTO CALIFORNIA THIS WEEKEND.

THE STORM WILL LEAVE BEHIND COLD AIR AND GROWERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED
SOME FROST PROTECTION MAY BECOME NECESSARY IN THE COLDEST ORCHARDS
END OF THIS WEEK AND THE WEEKEND.  NORMAL FROST PROTECTION MEASURES
SHOULD PROVIDE ADEQUATE PROTECTION FOR CROPS WITH COLDEST MINIMUMS
IN THE MIDDLE TO UPPER 20S THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT.
.
SHIGEHARA

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in California, 1990Every tornado warning in 1990Tornadoes in 1990

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.