Tornado, Orange
- When
- November 11, 12:40 PM PST to 12:50 PM PST
- Where
- Orange County, Irvine
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 0.2 mi
- Path width
- 200 yd
- Coordinates
- 33.680, -117.820
Tornado in California, November 11, 1997
A low pressure trough aloft spawned funnel clouds and a tornado over coastal areas of central Orange County. Although no thunder or lightning was detected, convective showers were observed in the area.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- 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.
What happened
The episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.
A low pressure trough aloft spawned funnel clouds and a tornado over coastal areas of central Orange County. Although no thunder or lightning was detected, convective showers were observed in the area. The tornado touched down near the Irvine Spectrum Center and travelled about a quarter of a mile on the ground, ripping away a chain-link fence at a construction site, which landed on 30 cars a few hundred yards away. Four cars were reportedly picked up and moved a few feet, and wooden beams were tossed about like toothpicks. No injuries were reported, but ten cars were damaged by flying debris and a shuttle shelter was destroyed. As the tornado lifted, another funnel developed and lasted for several minutes.
The radar
The Santa Ana Mts radar (KSOX), 23 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:41 UTC.
Event by event
1 tornado, 1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
Funnel Cloud, Orange
- When
- November 11, 12:50 PM PST to 1:00 PM PST
- Where
- Orange County, Irvine
- Coordinates
- 33.677, -117.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
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.
- Funnel Cloud
- A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Lake-Effect Snow in Michigan, November 11 to 12, 1997
- Winter Storm in Colorado, November 11 to 12, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Utah, November 11 to 12, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Michigan, November 11 to 12, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, November 11, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, November 11, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Nevada, November 11, 1997
- High Wind in Alaska, November 11 to 12, 1997
- High Surf in Hawaii, November 11, 1997
- Funnel Cloud in California, November 11, 1997
More
Every storm in California in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for California, 1997Warnings in California, November 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: 5620204, 5620205.