Alert archive / California / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Hanford, CA

October 20, 2004Tulare County, California

NWS Hanford, CA issued this tornado warning at Oct 20, 2004, 2:18 PM PDT for Tulare County, California. It was in force for 27 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
Oct 20, 2004, 2:18 PM PDT (21:18 UTC)
Expired
Oct 20, 2004, 2:45 PM PDT
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Hanford, CA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Tulare County, CA

The radar

The San Joaquin Valley radar (KHNX), 38 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:21 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Edwards AFB, CA (KEDW), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 227 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, Edwards AFB, CA at 12:00Z on 2004-10-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Edwards AFB, CA at 12:00Z on 2004-10-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -10 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
533 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-64 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 KHNX 202118
TORHNX
CAC107-202145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY CA
214 PM PDT WED OCT 20 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HANFORD CA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN TULARE COUNTY IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA

* UNTIL 245 PM PDT

* AT 205 PM PDT...TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR
  DINUBA...OR ABOUT 13 MILES NORTH OF VISALIA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT
  15 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN THE DINUBA VICINITY THROUGH 
245 PM PDT.
  

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
STURDY SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST
DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 3652 11946 3639 11932 3658 11910 3665 11918

$$

DUDLEY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 20, 2:16 PM PDTTornado WarningHNXTulare29 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in California, 2004Every tornado warning in 2004Tornadoes in 2004

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.