Tornado in California, September 24, 1997

Name: Tornado in California, September 24, 1997
Start: 1997-09-24T16:14
End: 1997-09-24T16:17
Location: California

September 24, 1997 · NWS PSR · 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: 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.

The radar

The Yuma radar (KYUX), 100 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:13 UTC.

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Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Imperial

When: September 24, 4:14 PM MST to 4:17 PM MST
Where: Imperial County, Seeley to 2 mi of Seeley
Rating: F0
Path length: 1.5 mi
Path width: 25 yd
Coordinates: 32.780, -115.670

A tornado touched down near the Forester Exit of Interstate 8 and skipped along to the northwest for approximately 1.5 miles. In its path, 16 power poles were destroyed, with some having been snapped or pulled from the ground, large trees were knocked down, outhouses were blown down, and tarps were lifted from hay stacks.

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, September 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: 5623814.