Alert archive / California / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Sacramento, CA

April 29, 1995El Dorado County, California

NWS Sacramento, CA issued this tornado warning at Apr 29, 1995, 6:22 PM PDT for El Dorado County, California. It was in force for 41 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 29, 1995, 6:22 PM PDT (01:22 UTC)
Expired
Apr 29, 1995, 7:03 PM PDT
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Sacramento, CA
Area
Whole counties

County El Dorado County, CA

The nearest sounding before it

Oakland, CA (KOAK), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 187 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 1995-04-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 59 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1995-04-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 86 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
59 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
522 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
82 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
86 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
191 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSAC 300123
TORSAC
CAC017-300230-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
622 PM PDT SAT APR 29 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SACRAMENTO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM PDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN NORTH CALIFORNIA
 
   ...WESTERN EL DORADO COUNTY
 
AT 5:55 PM PDT PUBLIC REPORTED TORNADO TOUCHDOWNS NEAR LATROBE ROAD AND
NEAR SHINGLE SPRINGS...BOTH IN EL DORADO COUNTY. THE REPORTS INDICATED
SOME DAMAGE...INCLUDING AN UPROOTED TREE NEAR SHINGLE SPRINGS.
SACRAMENTO DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVING
THROUGH THE FOOTHILLS FROM SOUTHERN PLACER COUNTY NEAR FOREST HILL TO
THE FAR NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY EAST OF LODI. THESE
STORMS WERE ALL MOVING TO THE NORHTEAST AT ABOUT 15 MPH. SMALL HAIL
AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AS WELL AS THE POSSIBILITY FOR ADDITIONAL
TORNADO TOUCHDOWNS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS.  THESE TH UNDERSTORMS
SHOULD DISSIPATE AFTER SUNSET.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
 
SIMS/NOXON

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, Apr 29, 5:37 PM PDT, 45 minutes before
CAZ006-009-300235-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
535 PM PST SAT APR 29 1995

...COLD AIR FUNNEL CLOUD SIGHTED OVER STOCKTON...

AT 520 PM PDT...THE SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT SPOTTED
AND REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF ALPINE AND MAIN
STREETS IN STOCKTON. THE FUNNEL CLOUD DID NOT TOUCH THE GROUND...AND
ITS MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST. SACRAMENTO DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES
NO SEVERE WEATHER IN THE STOCKTON AREA.

COLD AIR FUNNEL CLOUDS ARE NOT ASSOCIATED WITH SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
THEY GENERALLY DO NOT REACH THE GROUND AND ARE USUALLY SHORT LIVED.
THEY HAVE...HOWEVER..ON OCCASION...TOUCHED THE GROUND AND CAUSED
DAMAGE.  BECAUSE OF THIS POSSIBILITY...YOU SHOULD SEEK SHELTER WHEN
COLD AIR FUNNELS ARE OBSERVED.  GO TO YOUR BASEMENT OR CENTRAL PART
OF YOUR HOME FOR SHELTER.  STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR
FURTHER UPDATES ON THIS RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER SITUATION.V

SIMS/NOXON

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.