Tornado, Los Angeles
- When
- January 31, 12:45 PM CST
- Where
- Los Angeles County
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Property damage
- $2.5 million
- Coordinates
- 34.170, -118.370
Tornadoes and Hail in California, January 31, 1979
4 hail, 2 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $2.5 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 7
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
Event by event
4 hail, 2 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Tornado, Orange
- When
- January 31, 1:30 PM CST
- Where
- Orange County
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 2 mi
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Coordinates
- 33.750, -117.880
Hail, Orange
- When
- January 31, 5:00 PM CST
- Where
- Orange County
- Measured
- 1.25 in hail
- Coordinates
- 33.670, -117.950
Thunderstorm Wind, Orange
- When
- January 31, 5:00 PM CST
- Where
- Orange County
- Measured
- 63 kt (72 mph)
- Coordinates
- 33.670, -117.950
Hail, Los Angeles
- When
- January 31, 5:30 PM CST
- Where
- Los Angeles County
- Measured
- 1.25 in hail
- Coordinates
- 33.770, -118.420
Hail, Orange
- When
- January 31, 5:30 PM CST
- Where
- Orange County
- Measured
- 2 in hail
- Coordinates
- 33.750, -117.880
Hail, Los Angeles
- When
- January 31, 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Los Angeles County
- Measured
- 1.5 in hail
- Coordinates
- 33.830, -118.270
What these are
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
More
Every storm in California in 1979Every state in 1979This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for California, 1979
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 9991252, 9991253, 9991254, 9991255, 9991256, 9991257, 9991258.