Alert archive / California / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Hanford, CA

May 1, 1995Fresno County, California

NWS Hanford, CA issued this tornado warning at May 1, 1995, 5:50 PM PDT for Fresno County, California. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 1, 1995, 5:50 PM PDT (00:50 UTC)
Expired: May 1, 1995, 6:45 PM PDT
In force: 55 min
Issued by: NWS Hanford, CA
Area: Whole counties

County Fresno County, CA

The nearest sounding before it

Vandenberg AFB, CA (KVBG), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 238 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 708 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -48 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 43 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KFAT 020054
TORFAT
CAC019-020145-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FRESNO CA
550 PM PDT MON MAY 1 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FRESNO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM PDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION.......
 
IN  CALIFORNIA
 
   ...NORTH CENTRAL FRESNO COUNTY
 
SPOTTER REPORTS A TORNADO HAS BEEN SEEN IN THE SUNNYSIDE AREA OF THE
FRESNO METRO AREA. DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES THAT THE THUNDERSTORM CELL
IN THE AREA IS MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. RESIDENTS EAST OF THE AREA
SOUTH OF THE FRESNO AIR TERMINAL..EAST TOWARDS CLOVIS AVE AND
AND THE VICINITY OF KINGS CANYON PARKWAY.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
 
FURTHER STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED. STAY TUNED TO THE NOAA WEATHER
RADIO AND/OR YOUR LOCAL TV/RADIO STATIONS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.
 GUDGEL

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, 58 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 1, 5:00 PM PDT	Tornado Warning	HNX	Fresno, Madera	2 hr
May 1, 7:09 PM PDT	Tornado Warning	HNX	Tulare	2 hr
May 1, 7:09 PM PDT	Tornado Warning	HNX	Fresno	51 min

Nearby

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