1 funnel cloud, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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.
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 Mar 4, 3:05 AM PST, 9 hours 25 minutes earlier.
INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA 305 AM PST TUE MAR 04 2003 UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE OVER THE AREA THIS MORNING WILL GRADUALLY SAG SOUTH INTO SOCAL TODAY. ASSICIATED DEFORMATION ZONE IS PRODUCING A FEW SHOWERS. AS THE TROF SAGS SOUTH...SHOWERS WILL END FROM NORTH TO SOUTH...WITH GRADUAL CLEARING. TONIGHT WILL BE CLEAR TO PARTLY CLOUDY AS FLOW ALOFT BECOMES NORTHERLY. ANY RESIDUAL OVERCAST WILL BE OVER THE EAST SIDE AND SOUTH END OF THE VALLEY AND ADJACENT FOOTHILLS. FLAT HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL NOSE IN OVER THE AREA WED AND CONT INTO THURS. THIS HIGH WILL BRING A WARMING TREND...WITH TEMPS AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE...WITH MAINLY CLEAR SKIES. BINGHAM FOR THE PERIOD FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS IN RELATIVELY GOOD AGREEMENT ON KEEPING H5 RIDGE ACROSS THE PACIFIC COASTAL STATES FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. 500 MB HEIGHTS AOA 570 DM SHOULD ENSURE MILD TEMPERATURES WITH JUST A FEW HIGH CLOUDS DRIFTING ACROSS THE SKY. HEIGHTS BEGIN TO DECAY SUNDAY AS ENERGY RIDING INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST DAMPENS THE RIDGE...ALLOWING FOR A QUASI-ZONAL UPPER FLOW TO BRING MOIST WESTERLY WINDS OFF THE OCEAN INTO THE STATE. GFS INDICATES THE LOSS OF SOME 120 METERS OF 500 MB HEIGHTS BY SUNDAY NIGHT...ALONG WITH 295K THETA E PROGS SHOWING A RELATIVE MAXIMUM POISED JUST OFF OUR COAST. GIVEN THESE FACTORS AND THE NOTORIOUS UNPREDICTABILITY OF PERTURBATIONS WITHIN SUCH A FLOW...WILL INTRO SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR THE SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY TIME FRAME FOR AREAS GENERALLY NORTH OF FRESNO. BURGER .HNX...NONE.
CAZ089>099-051330- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA 530 AM PST TUE MAR 4 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR. .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.
The San Joaquin Valley radar (KHNX), 49 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:32 UTC.
1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
Low-topped convection resulted in an unconfirmed report of a funnel cloud in the vicinity of Reedley. HNX WSR-88D reflectivity was in the 45-50 dBz value range with tops 10-15K feet.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in California, March 2003
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: 5349223.