Alert archive / California / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Hanford, CA

May 1, 1995Fresno County, Madera County, California

NWS Hanford, CA issued this tornado warning at May 1, 1995, 5:00 PM PDT for Fresno County, Madera County, California. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 1, 1995, 5:00 PM PDT (00:00 UTC)
Expired
May 1, 1995, 7:00 PM PDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Hanford, CA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Fresno County, CA, Madera County, CA

The nearest sounding before it

Oakland, CA (KOAK), launched 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 235 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 1995-05-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1 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 1995-05-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -6 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
830 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
57 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, May 1, 4:52 PM PDT, 8 minutes before
CAZ005-010-020200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
450 PM PDT MON MAY 1 1995

   ...SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH THE SAN JOAQUIN
      VALLEY AND SOUTHERN SIERRA...

AT 445 PM PDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR IN HANFORD INDICATES
THREE AREAS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND
SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA. THE FIRST AREA...20 MILES WIDE...EXTENDED FROM
WESTERN KERN COUNTY...10 MILES NORTHWEST OF TAFT...TO ABOUT 10 MILES
NORTH OF LAKE ISABELLA.

A SECOND AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...ABOUT 30 MILES IN
DIAMETER WAS LOCATED OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA NEAR SIERRA
NATIONAL PARK.

THE HEAVEST WAS LOCATED IN A LINE...15 MILES WIDE...EXTENDING FROM
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK...TO MADERA...TO 44 MILES WEST OF FRESNO. THIS
LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE PRODUCED SMALL HAIL...GUSTY
WINDS...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING EAST TO NORTHEAST 25 TO
35 MPH AND WILL MOVE INTO THE FRESNO AREA DURING THE NEXT HOUR.

SHOULD A THUNDERSTORMS APPROACH YOUR AREA...PROTECT YOURSELF FROM
FROM THE DANGERS OF LIGHTNING...INCLUDING ONLY USING THE TELEPHONE
IN EMERGENCIES.

STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION OR THE NOOA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION.

CAIN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 1, 5:50 PM PDTTornado WarningHNXFresno55 min
May 1, 7:09 PM PDTTornado WarningHNXTulare2 hr
May 1, 7:09 PM PDTTornado WarningHNXFresno51 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in California, 1995Every tornado warning in 1995Tornadoes in 1995

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.