Tornado, Merced
- When
- November 22, 1:50 PM PST to 2:00 PM PST
- Where
- Merced County, 3 mi NE of Merced
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 0.2 mi
- Path width
- 10 yd
- Property damage
- $45,000
- Coordinates
- 37.330, -120.450
Tornado in California, November 22, 1996
Following frontal passage through Central California, an unstable airmass brought convective activity to the area this data. This small tornado, the first of four this day, was reported late to the office but eyewitness accounts and damage lead to the assessment of its being an F1 on the damage intensity scale.
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
- $45,000
- 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.
Following frontal passage through Central California, an unstable airmass brought convective activity to the area this data. This small tornado, the first of four this day, was reported late to the office but eyewitness accounts and damage lead to the assessment of its being an F1 on the damage intensity scale. Its path was northwest to southeast with a length of 1/4 mile through pasture and farm land except for an encounter with a farm house's garage. The garage roof was completely removed.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
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
- Flash Flood in California, November 22, 1996
- Tornado in California, November 22, 1996
- Flash Flood in Arizona, November 22, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Minnesota, November 22 to 24, 1996
- Tornado in Arizona, November 22, 1996
- High Wind in Colorado, November 22, 1996
- High Wind in California, November 22, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Utah, November 22, 1996
- Heavy Snow in South Dakota, November 22 to 23, 1996
- Lightning Strike in California, November 22, 1996
- Winter Storm in Colorado, November 22 to 23, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Utah, November 22, 1996
More
Every storm in California in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for California, 1996Warnings in California, November 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: 5578416.