Tornado in California, November 13, 1997

Name: Tornado in California, November 13, 1997
Start: 1997-11-13T15:30
End: 1997-11-13T15:36
Location: California

November 13, 1997 · NWS HNX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $5,000
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.

The radar

The San Francisco radar (KMUX), 94 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:30 UTC.

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Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Merced

When: November 13, 3:30 PM PST to 3:36 PM PST
Where: Merced County, Los Banos to 2 mi S of Los Banos
Rating: F0
Path length: 3 mi
Path width: 10 yd
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 37.030, -120.850

An F0 tornado developed as a severe thunderstorm was dissipating in rural, west Merced County just south of Los Banos. Damage was essentially limited to stored grain/fodder for cattle and some fences. Tornado was reported by several witnesses with its last point 3 miles farther south than its initial touchdown point. The path was from the NNW to SSE.

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

Every storm in California in 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history The tornado archive for California, 1997 Warnings 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: 5617531.