Alert archive / California / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Sacramento, CA

May 20, 2002Sutter County, Yolo County, California

NWS Sacramento, CA issued this tornado warning at May 20, 2002, 12:19 PM PDT for Sutter County, Yolo County, California. It was in force for 26 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 20, 2002, 12:19 PM PDT (19:19 UTC)
Expired: May 20, 2002, 12:45 PM PDT
In force: 26 min
Issued by: NWS Sacramento, CA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Sutter County, CA, Yolo County, CA

The nearest sounding before it

Oakland, CA (KOAK), launched 12:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 136 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: 4 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -206 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 592 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -31 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 
WFUS56 KSTO 201919
TORSAC
CAC101-113-201945-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
1218 PM PDT MON MAY 20 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SUTTER COUNTY IN CALIFORNIA
  NORTH CENTRAL YOLO COUNTY IN CALIFORNIA

* VALID UNTIL 1245 PM PDT

* AT 1211 PM PDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER SOUTH CENTRAL SUTTER COUNTY...OR ABOUT 13 MILES NORTH
  OF WOODLAND...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED BY THIS WARNING INCLUDE...

ROBBINS
KIRKVILLE
DUNNIGAN
ZAMORA

REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.
THEY WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE.

LAT...LON 3890 12185 3877 12173 3891 12160 3904 12178

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 20, 11:44 AM PDT	Tornado Warning	STO	Sutter, Yolo	31 min
May 20, 12:00 PM PDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	STO	Glenn, Tehama	30 min
May 20, 12:14 PM PDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	STO	Sacramento, Yolo	31 min
May 20, 12:48 PM PDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	STO	Sacramento	27 min
May 20, 1:26 PM PDT	Tornado Warning	STO	Amador, Sacramento, San Joaquin	34 min
May 20, 1:27 PM PDT	Tornado Warning	STO	Sutter, Yuba	48 min
May 20, 2:03 PM PDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	STO	Sacramento, San Joaquin	42 min
May 20, 2:09 PM PDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	STO	Amador	36 min
May 20, 2:31 PM PDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	STO	Calaveras	29 min
May 20, 2:32 PM PDT	Tornado Warning	STO	Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo	28 min
May 20, 3:00 PM PDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	STO	Amador, Calaveras	45 min
May 20, 3:10 PM PDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	STO	Placer, Sutter	35 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in California, 2002 Every tornado warning in 2002 Tornadoes in 2002

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.