Tornado and Hail in California, March 5, 1994

Name: Tornado and Hail in California, March 5, 1994
Start: 1994-03-05T14:15
End: 1994-03-05T14:45
Location: California

March 5, 1994 · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

1 hail, 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $500,000
Crop damage: $50 million
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 hail, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Fresno

When: March 5, 2:15 PM PST
Where: Fresno County, Fresno
Measured: 1.12 in hail
Property damage: $500,000
Crop damage: $50 million
Coordinates: 36.758, -119.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Tornado, Kings

When: March 5, 2:45 PM PST
Where: Kings County, Lemoore
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.1 mi
Path width: 30 yd
Coordinates: 36.075, -119.815 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Powerful thunderstorms rolled through the central San Joaquin Valley spawning a funnel cloud and a tornado along with damaging hail. The funnel cloud was reported by two weather spotters. The tornado was reported to have touched down for only about 15 seconds and no damage was reported. The hail and strong winds caused $6 million in crop damage. Almond trees were toppled and there was serious damage to citrus crops, strawberries, and grapes.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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 1994 Every state in 1994 This day in weather history The tornado archive for California, 1994 Warnings in California, March 1994

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: 10316829, 10316860.