Hail and High Wind in California, April 16 to 17, 2000

Pre-frontal wind caused some power line problems in the Southern San Joaquin Valley although warning criteria were not reached. Over 2000 customers lost power in the South Valley due to the wind. Following a vigorous trof passage early on the morning of the 17th rainfall accumulations on the Central and Southern San Joaquin Valley floor were between 1/2 to 1.5". Late afternoon convective activity through Central California generated what is classed as a low-topped supercell in rural, western Fresno County. The cell did trigger a tornado vortex signature alarm on the HNX 88D-Radar. Spotters confirmed a long-lasting funnel (3 vortexes) reaching halfway to the ground right after radar indicated mid-level rotation. Frequent cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning accompanied this cell as well as hail (1/2-inch diameter; piled 2-3 inches deep) with a path 3-to-4 miles wide from 5.0 miles southwest of Five Points to Lanare (13 miles). From the Fresno and Madera Ag Commissioners, 10,000+ acres of planted cotton were damaged along with some tomato fields due to hail damage. Further but difficult to assess damage was also done to area strawberry and cherry crops. At least 4 vehicle accidents could be attributed to the deep hail and heavy rain.