Tornado, Fresno
- When
- April 16, 1:50 PM PST to 1:55 PM PST
- Where
- Fresno County, 10 mi NW of Fresno
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 0.5 mi
- Path width
- 5 yd
- Coordinates
- 36.880, -119.880
Tornado in California, April 16, 1996
A small F0 tornado occurred with the passage of a severe thunderstorm through Central Fresno County. Little damage was done by the tornado although considerable crop damage resulted from hail and heavy rain with the thunderstorm.
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
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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.
What happened
The episode as NWS HNX wrote it up.
A small F0 tornado occurred with the passage of a severe thunderstorm through Central Fresno County. Little damage was done by the tornado although considerable crop damage resulted from hail and heavy rain with the thunderstorm.
The radar
The San Joaquin Valley radar (KHNX), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:50 UTC.
Event by event
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
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.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Lightning Strike in Washington, April 16, 1996
- Hail in California, April 16, 1996
- Flooding in Maine, April 16 to 18, 1996
- Flash Flood in Connecticut, April 16, 1996
- Hail in California, April 16, 1996
- Debris Flow in Maine, April 16, 1996
- Damaging Wind in New Jersey, April 16, 1996
- Hail in California, April 16, 1996
- High Wind in South Carolina, April 16, 1996
- Hail in California, April 16, 1996
- Flooding in New York, April 16, 1996
- Flood in California, April 16, 1996
More
Every storm in California in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for California, 1996Warnings in California, April 1996
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: 5580782.