Funnel Cloud, Sacramento
- When
- February 19, 4:00 AM PST to 4:04 AM PST
- Where
- Sacramento County, 10 mi N of Sacramento
- Reported by
- BROADCAST MEDIA
- Coordinates
- 38.449, -121.344 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Funnel Cloud in California, February 19, 2001
A funnel cloud developed along Interstate 80, just north of Downtown. It dissipated within 5 minutes.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
- 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.
What happened
The episode as NWS STO wrote it up.
A funnel cloud developed along Interstate 80, just north of Downtown. It dissipated within 5 minutes.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Sacramento, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 19, 3:30 AM PST, 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 19, 3:30 AM PST, 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
330 AM PST MON FEB 19 2001
DISC...RUNNING BEHIND DUE TO LOCAL TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES SO WILL
MAKE IT SHORT. IMPRESSIVE LINE OF CONVECTION MOVING ONSHORE. LDS
SHOWING FREQUENT POSITIVE STRIKES NEAR MONTERAY. MAIN MOISTURE PLUME
IMPRESSIVE ON WVAP IMAGERY...AND SATL ESTIMATED PRECIP RATES ARE
RUNNING ABOUT 0.10 TO 0.25 INCHES/HR.
WILL NOT MAKE MANY CHANGES...AS PREVIOUS FORECAST PACKAGE HAD GOOD
HANDLE ON SITUATION. HOWEVER...WILL TAKE DOWN WINTER WEATHER
ADVISORY FOR ZONE 64...AS SNOW LEVELS EXPECTED TO BE A BIT TOO HIGH
FOR THAT AREA.
ELSEWHERE...WILL MAINTAIN PREVIOUS WINTER STORM WARNINGS...BUT WILL
TAPER AMOUNTS DOWN A BIT ACROSS THE SIERRA/LASSEN AREA. MAIN AREA
OF MOISTURE IS WELL REMOVED FROM MAIN DYNAMICS AS UPPER SYSTEM IS
TAKING A NEGATIVE TILT. AM WORRIED ABOUT MOISTURE GETTING BACK INTO
THE FAR SIERRA GIVEN A MORE SOUTHERLY FLOW COMPONENT ACROSS THE
AREA. PREFER AVN QPF SOLUTION THROUGH TUESDAY...KEEPING HEAVIEST AMOUNTS
MORE ALONG THE COASTAL MOUNTAINS.
OVERNIGHT PACJET FLIGHT RECORDED FREEZING LEVELS NEAR 5000 FEET.
WILL MAINTAIN SNOW LEVELS OF 4000 TO 4500 FEET MOST AREAS...LOWERING
A BIT OVERNIGHT BEHIND FRONT.
WILL KEEP EXTENDED AS IS...WET AND COOL...AS TIMING WILL BE TRICKY
FOR THE 3 TO 7 DAY PERIOD...BUT CONFIDENCE IS HIGH ON PRECIPITATION
IN GENERAL THROUGH INTO NEXT WEEKEND.
BASIL
.STO...WINTER STORM WARNING TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR THE MOUNTAINS
OF SHASTA COUNTY INCLUDING THE BURNEY BASIN TO THE MOUNTAINS
OF NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY...AND WESTERN PLUMAS/LASSEN AREA.The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Extreme Cold in Michigan, February 19 to 20, 2001
- Wildfire in Florida, February 19, 2001
- High Wind in Arizona, February 19, 2001
- Avalanche in Montana, February 19, 2001
- High Surf in California, February 19 to 21, 2001
- Flooding in Illinois, February 19 to 28, 2001
- Volcanic Ash in Alaska, February 19, 2001
- Winter Storm in California, February 19 to 20, 2001
More
Every storm in California in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 2001
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: 5231233.