Funnel Cloud, Orange
- When
- January 10, 1:00 PM PST
- Where
- Orange County, (Sna)santa Ana Co Ar
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 33.677, -117.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Funnel Cloud in California, January 10, 2001
1 funnel cloud, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 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 San Diego, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 10, 9:00 AM PST, 4 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 10, 9:00 AM PST, 4 hours before
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
900 AM PST WED JAN 10 2001
...SYNOPSIS...
RESIDUAL MOISTURE WILL PRODUCE SOME CLOUDS THIS MORNING. A MAJOR WINTER
STORM WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE
INTO FRIDAY. THIS STORM WILL BRING PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN...WITH SNOW
AND STRONG WINDS AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS. FLOODING IS POSSIBLE TONIGHT AND
THURSDAY...ESPECIALLY NEAR AREAS THAT HAVE HAD RECENT FIRES. IN
ADDITION...COASTAL FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM DUE TO A
COMBINATION OF ASTRONOMICAL HIGH TIDES AND HEAVY SURF. LOW PRESSURE
ALOFT WILL CONTINUE A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AT TIMES INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK.
...DISCUSSION...
LOW LEVEL MOISTURE KEEPING SOME LOW CLOUDS AND LOCAL FOG AROUND THIS
MORNING...ALSO SFC BASED INVERSION ON 12Z NKX SOUNDING. LEADING EDGE OF
STORM CLOUDS MOVING INTO VENTURA CO THIS MORNING. LEADING EDGE OF RAIN
UP IN SAN LUIS OB CO. WILL UPDATE FCST TO FRESHEN THINGS UP.
CONSIDERING A FLASH FLOOD WATCH SOON. HERES THE RUNDOWN...
NEW MODELS DEPICT SEVERAL WAVES OF PRECIP. A LEADING BAND WILL BE THE
FIRST TO MOVE THROUGH OUR CWA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVE. AREAS PRONE
TO OROGRAPHIC ENHANCEMENT FROM SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL GET SIG PRECIP THIS
EVE...IE SBD MTNS...AND MOST PRECIP BEFORE DECREASING THU PM. SAN CO
WILL WAIT TO GET MOST PRECIP THU AM AND BE SLOWER TO DECREASE BY LATE
THU PM. THE MAIN BAND WILL PUSH THROUGH THU AM...DECREASING BY SUNDOWN.
ANOTHER IMPULSE ROTATES THROUGH FRI AM FOR ANOTHER SHOT...BUT WEAKER.
-24 DEGREES C COLD AIR AT 500 MB TO MOVE ACROSS REGION THU. RESULTANT
INSTABILITY WILL BRING A GOOD CHANCE OF TSTORMS THU PM. THIS MAY
CONTINUE THROUGH FRI AM AS -26 DEGREE AIR MOVES THROUGH. SHOULD SEE
SOME HAIL AND OTHER WEIRD THINGS LIKE WATERSPOUTS OR FUNNEL CLOUDS WITH
THESE TSTORMS. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL GET UP TO 16 ESPECIALLY IN SBD
MTNS...MORE LIKE A FOOT IN RIV MTNS...AND UP TO A FOOT IN SAN MTNS.
SNOW LEVELS START AT AROUND 6K FT LATE TONIGHT...THEN GRADUALLY DROP TO
4.5K FT BY 00Z FRI. EVEN LOWER SNOW LEVELS FRI AM...POSSIBLY BELOW 4K
FT BUT BY THEN AMOUNTS WILL BE SMALL. WINDS WILL BE STRONGEST LATE
TONIGHT AND THU AM. NOT OVERLY STRONG...BUT WILL KEEP EYE ON DESERT
WINDS FOR POSSIBLE ADVISORY THIS EVE. TEMPS HIGHEST TODAY...NOT VERY
HIGH...AND VERY COOL THU AND FRI AND WARMEST NR CST. TOUGH TO REACH 60
DEGREES BEFORE SAT. THE POWERFUL SYSTEM FINALLY EXITS LATE FRI AND
SHOWERS SHOULD END LATE. DRIER NW FLOW SETS UP SAT...BUT ENOUGH
RESIDUAL MOISTURE TO KEEP SOME LOW CU CLOUDS IN FCST. LATER ON...A COLD
FRONT WITH LIGHT RAIN AND MTN SNOW POSSIBLE MON PM INTO TUE...WITH
UPPER LOW OVER US WED FOR MORE SCATTERED SHOWERS.
SAN 5++
.SAN...COASTAL FLOOD WATCH...SEE LAXCFWSAN.
WINTER STORM WARNING FOR MOUNTAINS...SEE LAXWSWSAN.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SEE LAXSPSSAN.
MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT...SEE LAXMWSSAN.
MMThe radar
The Santa Ana Mts radar (KSOX), 20 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:58 UTC.
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
- Winter Storm in California, January 10 to 12, 2001
- Flash Flood and Flooding in California, January 10 to 11, 2001
- Frost and Freeze in Florida, January 10, 2001
- High Wind in Virginia, January 10, 2001
- Winter Storm and High Wind in California, January 10 to 11, 2001
- High Wind in Nevada, January 10, 2001
- Flooding and High Surf in California, January 10 to 12, 2001
- Dense Fog in Oregon, January 10, 2001
- Winter Storm and Heavy Rain in California, January 10 to 12, 2001
- Winter Storm in California, January 10 to 11, 2001
- Extreme Cold in Florida, January 10, 2001
- High Wind in California, January 10, 2001
More
Every storm in California in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 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: 5229072.