Tornadoes and Heavy Rain in California, December 13 to 17, 2002

Name: Tornadoes and Heavy Rain in California, December 13 to 17, 2002
Start: 2002-12-13T18:00
End: 2002-12-17T04:00
Location: California

December 13 to 17, 2002 · NWS HNX · 3 events in 1 county or zone

25 miles. generated another weak tornado (with a noticable condensation funnel).

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $400,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

From low-topped convection, a short duration tornado touched down northwest of Merced California on the 16th and had a discernible damage track of 1.25 miles. The tornado dissipated but the parent cell...after a distance of about 3 miles...generated another weak tornado (with a noticable condensation funnel). This tornado was reported to have traveled about one mile over pasture land before dissipating. At its most intense, this cell spawned F1 Tornado damage for 3/8-mile when it lifted a roof from a house and carport and caused damage to various light structures along its path. There were no injuries or fatalities despite residents at home when the roof lifted from a house along Highway 59 near mid-day. Additionally, locally heavy rain occurred over a 3-day period accumulating a 1.87" precipitation total causing local urban flooding problems due to clogged storm drains in the city of Merced (16th Street west of 'V' and 18th and Canal Streets).

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 Hanford, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 13, 3:30 PM PST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 13, 3:30 PM PST, 2 hours 30 minutes before

INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
330 PM PST FRI DEC 13 2002

WARM FRONT PRECIP SPREAD ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION NORTH OF KERN CO
TODAY...MUCH FARTHER SOUTH THAN MODELS HAD PROGGED. HAVE UPPED ALL
POPS FOR TONIGHT BASED ON SAT PIX AND RADAR...WHICH CONT TO SHOW
WAVES OF CLOUDS AND PRECIP SPREADING INTO THE CENTRAL COAST. SHOULD
BE A BREAK IN THE PRECIP SAT...AS CENTRAL CA WILL BE IN THE WARM
SECTOR...AND TEMPS WILL REFLECT THIS. SO ADDED 5 TO 10 DEGS TO PREV
ZONE TEMPS FOR SAT. NEXT PACIFIC WAVE OF MOISTURE TO ARRIVE LATE SAT
AFTERNOON AND SPREAD ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA DURING THE NIGHT...THEN
TAPER OFF SUNDAY. TEMPS SUN ABOUT 10 DEGS COOLER THAN SAT. THE NEXT
SYSTEM WILL APPROACH THE AREA SUN NITE...WITH RAIN AND SNOW
SPREADING ACROSS ALL OF THE AREA MONDAY. THE MONDAY STORM LOOKS TO
BE THE MORE SIGNIFICANT IN THE CURRENT SERIES. MUCH COOLER AIR WILL
ALSO ARRIVE LATE MONDAY...WITH SHARPLY LOWER SNOW LEVELS POSSIBLE.
WINDS WILL PICK UP SAT...AND CONT INTO SUN. RIDGE WINDS IN THE
SIERRA WILL EXCEED 60 MPH AT TIMES...WITH CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND
DRIFTING SNOW.

QPF-WISE...NOT A WHOLE LOT A PRECIP IN ANY GIVEN SIX HOUR SPAN...
HOWEVER...OVERALL TOTALS THROUGH MONDAY WILL BE SUBSTANTIAL...WITH
AN INCH OR TWO FOR THE VALLEY AND FOOTHILLS...AND 2-4 FEET OF SNOW
IN THE HIGH SIERRA. LESSER PRECIP TOTALS WILL OCCUR IN KERN CO. THE
BEST CHANCE FOR PRECIP IN THE KERN DESERTS WILL BE MON...BUT THERE
COULD BE SOME SHOWERS SAT NITE AND EARLY SUN.  BINGHAM

LOOKING AT THE PERIOD TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS
GENERALLY CONSISTENT IN KEEPING A FAST ZONAL FLOW EXTENDING ACROSS
THE PACIFIC AND INTO THE STATE. ANY RIPPLES ALONG FOR THE RIDE WILL
HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE PRECIPITATION...SO HAVE OPTED TO KEEP
CHANCES GOING FOR THE ENTIRE PERIOD SINCE THE TIMING OF INDIVIDUAL
WAVES WILL PROVE QUITE DIFFICULT. SNOW LEVELS WILL REMAIN VERY
LOW...WITH BOTH H7 TEMPERATURES AND 1000-500MB THICKNESSES
SUPPORTING A CHANGEOVER AT AROUND 2500 FEET ELEVATION TUESDAY
NIGHT/WEDNESDAY MORNING INVOF OAKHURST...BEFORE RECOVERING SOME
THEREAFTER. THE HIGH TERRAIN AND VALLEY LOCATIONS WILL REMAIN COOL
ALIKE...AS A CONTINUATION OF BOTH LOW HEIGHTS AND EXTENSIVE CLOUD
COVER CONSPIRE TO KEEP READINGS DOWN AND DIURNAL SWINGS MINIMIZED.
WITH SUCH AN ACTIVE PATTERN THOUGH...EXPECT VERY LITTLE IN THE WAY
OF VALLEY FOG.  BURGER

.HNX...WINTER STORM WATCH FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM
       YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND
       SATURDAY NIGHT.

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 13, 6:00 AM PST, 12 hours before

CAZ089>099-141330-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
600 AM PST FRI DEC 13 2002

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
INTERIOR.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN NORTH OF FRESNO.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.
WINDY SATURDAY. A STRONG WEATHER SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE
AREA ON SATURDAY...LINGERING THROUGH WEDNESDAY. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN
AND SNOW IS POSSIBLE WITH THIS SYSTEM.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.

TLM

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Dec 13, 4:00 PM PST, 2 hours before

CAZ089>099-141200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
400 PM PST FRI DEC 13 2002

...TWO STRONG PACIFIC STORMS WILL REACH THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
INTERIOR OVER THE WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK...

TWO STRONG PACIFIC STORM SYSTEMS ARE EXPECTED TO TRACK INTO THE
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR. ONE STORM WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION
SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY. THIS STORM WILL PUSH PRECIPITATION
INTO THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA AND THE
TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS...AND POSSIBLY REACHING THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS.
SNOW LEVELS WILL BEGIN NEAR 8000 FEET...BUT DROP TO AROUND 6000
FEET SATURDAY NIGHT. STRONG WINDS WILL ACCOMPANY THIS STORM IN
THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA...WITH SPEEDS IN THE 40 TO 50 MPH RANGE
LIKELY...ALONG WITH SOME HIGHER GUSTS.

WITH A FAST MOVING FLOW ALOFT...THERE WILL BE LITTLE RELIEF BEFORE A
ANOTHER STORM PUSHES INTO THE REGION MONDAY...BRINGING MORE RAIN AND
WIND...ALONG WITH LOWER SNOW LEVELS. BY TUESDAY...SNOW MAY FALL AS
LOW AS 3000 FEET IN THE SIERRA NEVADA NEAR YOSEMITE...AND AS LOW
AS 4000 FEET IN THE TULARE AND KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR YOUR FAVORITE NEWS SOURCE...
FOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND THE LATEST INFORMATION ABOUT THESE
APPROACHING STORMS.

DS

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 tornado, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Merced

When: December 13, 6:00 PM PST to December 17, 4:00 AM PST
Where: Merced County, Merced Arpt
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.192, -120.718 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Tornado, Merced

When: December 16, 12:40 PM PST to 12:45 PM PST
Where: Merced County, 4 mi N of Merced Arpt
Rating: F1
Path length: 1.3 mi
Path width: 45 yd
Property damage: $400,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.333, -120.517

Tornado, Merced

When: December 16, 12:50 PM PST to 12:55 PM PST
Where: Merced County, 6 mi NE of Merced Arpt
Rating: F0
Path length: 1 mi
Path width: 45 yd
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 37.350, -120.433

What these are

Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
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

Every storm in California in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history The tornado archive for California, 2002 Warnings in California, December 2002

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: 5324663, 5324662, 5324664.