Tornado and Damaging Wind in California, February 23, 1993

Name: Tornado and Damaging Wind in California, February 23, 1993
Start: 1993-02-23T11:00
End: 1993-02-23T14:05
Location: California

February 23, 1993 · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

1 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $55,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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

1 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Los Angeles

When: February 23, 11:00 AM PST
Where: Los Angeles County, Azusa
Property damage: $50,000
Coordinates: 34.198, -118.261 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A local television station reported tornado like winds damaged 11 homes. Most of the damage was to roofs and fallen trees. No funnel cloud was sighted. Several cars sustained damage.

Tornado, Kern

When: February 23, 2:05 PM PST
Where: Kern County, McFarland
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.1 mi
Path width: 30 yd
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 35.343, -118.730 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A weather spotter and a National Weather Service forecaster observed a funnel cloud over a 15-minute period between the towns of Wasco and McFarland. The funnel went through several cycles of descending toward the ground then lifting back to the cloud base. Subsequently a report was received of a carport destroyed in McFarland indicating that at one point the funnel cloud did touch down as a tornado. Evidence of rotation was also apparent in nearby vegetation.

What these are

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.
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.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

Every storm in California in 1993 Every state in 1993 This day in weather history The tornado archive for California, 1993 Warnings in California, February 1993

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: 10316851, 10316850.