California, 1998

Tornadoes in California, May 5, 1998

May 5, 1998 · NWS MTR · 4 events in 1 county or zone

A Tornado touched down in the Chevy Chase residential area of Sunnyvale, CA near Hwy 85. The storm survey assessed the Damage to 15 home and a large chucrch as a mininimal F2..

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.

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
2
Property damage
$4.1 million
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
4

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 MTR wrote it up.

A Tornado touched down in the Chevy Chase residential area of Sunnyvale, CA near Hwy 85. The storm survey assessed the Damage to 15 home and a large chucrch as a mininimal F2.. One woman was injured when struck by flying debris. The storm was well documented on a video shot by a person from their backyard. The storm appears to be rotating anticyclonically from this video. This storm apparently developed from thunderstorms that developed in the lee of the Santa Cruz mountains over the W Santa Clara Valley.

The radar

The San Francisco radar (KMUX), 20 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:30 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 funnel cloud, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Funnel Cloud, Santa Clara

When
May 5, 1:15 PM PST
Where
Santa Clara County, Mountain View
Coordinates
37.233, -121.696 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Funnel cloud passed over El Camino Real in Mountain View CA

Tornado, Santa Clara

When
May 5, 4:30 PM PST
Where
Santa Clara County, Los Altos
Rating
F1
Path length
0.3 mi
Path width
75 yd
Injuries
1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$300,000
Coordinates
37.380, -122.120

A tornado briefly touched down in Los Altos CA on Alicia Way and continued to the Los Altos High School.A woman Tennis Coach at the high school was picked up and hurled around 20 feet and sustained injuries.

Tornado, Santa Clara

When
May 5, 4:43 PM PST to 4:44 PM PST
Where
Santa Clara County, Sunnyvale
Rating
F2
Path length
0.6 mi
Path width
100 yd
Injuries
1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$3.8 million
Coordinates
37.370, -122.030

Funnel Cloud, Santa Clara

When
May 5, 4:50 PM PST
Where
Santa Clara County, Palo Alto
Coordinates
37.233, -121.696 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A funnel cloud was reported over the mud flats on the East side of HWY 101 in Palo Alto.. No buildings and only low vegetation exsist in this low lying area so it could not be confirmed if the funnel actually touched down in this area.

What these are

Funnel Cloud
A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
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

More

Every storm in California in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for California, 1998Warnings 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: 5645840, 5645838, 5645837, 5645839.