Funnel Cloud, Madera
- When
- May 12, 12:45 PM PST to 12:48 PM PST
- Where
- Madera County, 3 mi SE of Chowchilla
- Coordinates
- 37.218, -119.763 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Funnel Clouds in California, May 12 to 13, 1998
Unsettled weather in this longer-than-normal rainy season provided convection and several sightings of funnel clouds on May 12 and 13.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 HNX wrote it up.
Unsettled weather in this longer-than-normal rainy season provided convection and several sightings of funnel clouds on May 12 and 13.
The radar
The San Joaquin Valley radar (KHNX), 101 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:45 UTC.
Event by event
2 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
Funnel Cloud, Kings
- When
- May 13, 9:10 AM PST to 9:15 AM PST
- Where
- Kings County, Corcoran
- Coordinates
- 36.075, -119.815 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- 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
- Tornado and Heavy Snow in California, May 12 to 13, 1998
- Tornado in Illinois, May 12, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in Wisconsin, May 12, 1998
- Flood and Hail in Wisconsin, May 12 to 13, 1998
- Hail in Wisconsin, May 12, 1998
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in Michigan, May 12 to 13, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Wisconsin, May 12, 1998
- Hail in Illinois, May 12, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in Illinois, May 12, 1998
- Coastal Flood in New Jersey, May 12 to 13, 1998
- Coastal Flood in Pennsylvania, May 12 to 13, 1998
- Hail in Illinois, May 12, 1998
More
Every storm in California in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in California, May 1998
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: 5636131, 5636130.