Alert archive / California / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Hanford, CA
NWS Hanford, CA issued this tornado warning at Mar 24, 1998, 1:44 PM PST for Madera County, Merced County, California. It was in force for 31 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 24, 1998, 1:44 PM PST (21:44 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 24, 1998, 2:15 PM PST
- In force
- 31 min
- Issued by
- NWS Hanford, CA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Madera County, CA, Merced County, CA
The radar
The San Joaquin Valley radar (KHNX), 113 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:43 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 24, 1:46 PM PST | Tornado F0 | Chowchilla, CA | Initial part of this severe storm was 2 miles in length with trees damaged in the Maddalena Orchard south of Highway 152 and east of Road 10. No other damage seen immediately to the northeast except phone line damage immediately along Highway 152 through the |
| Mar 24, 1:55 PM PST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Chowchilla, CA | Strong wind from a severe thunderstorm pushed a trailer house off of its foundation as well as damaging some dairy, calf sheds in an area 1/2 mile north of the storm's tornado track. |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.
The nearest sounding before it
Oakland, CA (KOAK), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 183 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 684 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 75 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 33 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 104 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
515 WFUS1 KFAT 242146 RRA TORFAT CAC039-047-242215- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY HANFORD CA 144 PM PST TUE MAR 24 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HANFORD HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 215 PM PST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN CALIFORNIA ...WESTERN MADERA COUNTY...EASTERN MERCED COUNTY AT 145 PM PST...A SKYWARN SPOTTER REPORTED A TORNADO AT ASHLOUGH AND HIGHWAY 152. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR. PERSONS IN CHOWCHILLA TAKE COVER NOW. NESTER &
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.
NWS Hanford, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Mar 24, 8:30 AM PST, 5 hours 14 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 24, 8:30 AM PST, 5 hours 14 minutes before
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
830 AM PST TUE MAR 24 1998
INTERRESTING SCENARIO SETTING UP ACRS CNTRL CA. FRONT INCHING ITS
WAY SEWRD. UPR LOW LOCATED NR 133/35 WITH TROF EXTENDING WELL S.
S/WV AND UPR JET ROUNDING BASE OF TROF IS BEGINNING TO ENHANCE
FRONT SW OF PT CONCEPTION. NEW MODELS SHOW GOOD PVA APCHG CNTRL
AND SRN CA LATER TDY AND TONIGHT. THUS SHUD SEE AMPLE PCPN ACRS
MOST OF DIST TDY AND TONITE. PROBLEM TDY IS TSTMS. ALREADY GETTING
REPORTS IN FOOTHILLS WHERE STG OROGRAPHICS OCCURRING IN MARIPOSA AND
MADERA COUNTIES. OF ADDITIONAL CONCERN IS TSTM CHCS ACRS NRN HALF
OF FA...WHERE SOME BRIEF AFTN CLRG PSBL BETWEEN FRONT AND APCHG
S/WV. MODELS SHOW CNTR OF UPR LOW NR PT CONCEPTION TMRW AFTN WITH
TROF AXIS OVHD. NGM LI/S OF -4 TO -6 WED AFTN. COLD POOL ALF AND
FAIRLY LIGHT WINDS ALF...TSTMS CUD REACH SVR LIMITS. BINGHAM
FAT +86 BFL 586 YNP +86
.HNX...WINTER STORM WARNING THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT FROM YOSEMITE
PARK TO KINGS CANYON ABOVE 7000 FEET...ZONE 22
WINTER STORM WATCH FOR THE TULARE COUNTY AND KERN COUNTY
MOUNTAINS TONIGHT ABOVE 7000 FEET...ZONES 23 24.The office that day
Everything else NWS Hanford, CA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 24, 1:09 PM PST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HNX | Madera, Merced | 66 min |
| Mar 24, 2:35 PM PST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HNX | Fresno, Kings | 40 min |
| Mar 24, 2:35 PM PST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HNX | Kern | 40 min |
| Mar 24, 2:47 PM PST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HNX | Mariposa | 28 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in California, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes in 1998
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.