Tornado, Kern
- When
- March 22, 4:37 PM PST to 4:42 PM PST
- Where
- Kern County, Mc Farland to 10 mi W of Mc Farland
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 0.2 mi
- Path width
- 10 yd
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 35.670, -119.420
Tornado in California, March 22, 1997
Doppler Radar strongly supported meso/tornadic activity west of McFarland and a subsequent report of a tornado was made through the California Highway Patrol Office. However, no damage could be verified in this very rural area of the county.
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.
Doppler Radar strongly supported meso/tornadic activity west of McFarland and a subsequent report of a tornado was made through the California Highway Patrol Office. However, no damage could be verified in this very rural area of the county.
The radar
The San Joaquin Valley radar (KHNX), 74 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:36 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
- Hail in California, March 22, 1997
- Flood in California, March 22, 1997
- Lightning Strike in California, March 22, 1997
- Hail in California, March 22, 1997
- Heat in Georgia, March 22, 1997
- Hail in California, March 22, 1997
- Hail in California, March 22, 1997
- Lightning Strike in California, March 22, 1997
- Hail in California, March 22, 1997
More
Every storm in California in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for California, 1997Warnings in California, March 1997
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: 5596658.