Tornado and Hail in California, July 7, 2004

Name: Tornado and Hail in California, July 7, 2004
Start: 2004-07-07T15:32
End: 2004-07-07T16:47
Location: California

July 7, 2004 · NWS HNX · 2 events in 1 county or zone

) was reported by the general public near Rockwell Pass and substantiated by photos provided to the NWS about a week after the event. The tornado was short-lived and quasi-stationary.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

A high altitude tornado (approximately 12,000 feet M.S.L.) was reported by the general public near Rockwell Pass and substantiated by photos provided to the NWS about a week after the event. The tornado was short-lived and quasi-stationary. There was no discernible damage path due to location above the tree-line in rocky ground in the Tulare County Mountains per the eyewitness. The path width was estimated. Grape-shaped hail with its longest axis at 1-inch occurred initially and concurrently with the tornado. The large hail diminished to less than severe threshold after approximately 15 minutes but smaller hail continued to occur in the vicinity for an hour (ending at 1632 PST).

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 Jul 7, 1:00 PM PST, 2 hours 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 7, 1:00 PM PST, 2 hours 32 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
200 PM PDT WED JUL 7 2004

.SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...
SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE MOVING THROUGH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PROVIDING
PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES IN THE KERN COUNTY DESERT...OTHERWISE MOSTLY
SUNNY SKIES IN THE REMAINDER OF THE REGION. CONVECTION OVER THE
SIERRA GETTING STARTED A BIT LATER TODAY DUE TO A STABLE LOW LEVELS
RESULTING IN AN INVERSION CAP AND NEGATIVE CAPE AREA.
WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS A WEAK UPPER LEVEL TROUGH OFF THE CENTRAL
CALIFORNIA COAST....WHICH IS AIDING TO DEEPENING MARINE LAYER TO
2400 FEET ALONG THE COAST. A STRONG ONSHORE FLOW THROUGH THE DELTA
IS BRINGING THE MARINE LAYER INTO THE CENTRAL VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON.
AT THE MOMENT THE TEMPERATURE SPREAD IN THE VALLEY BETWEEN MERCED
AND BAKERSFIELD IS 9F DEGREES AND THE 24 HOUR TEMPERATURE TRENDS IN
MERCED IS 5 DEGREES COOLER. MODELS INDICATE A SLIGHT SYNOPTIC
COOLING FOR THURSDAY. HOWEVER MODELS ARE TRENDING SLOWER AND DELAY
THE STRONGER ONSHORE SOUTHWEST FLOW UNTIL FRIDAY. EXPECT LOWER
OVERNIGHT MINIMUM TEMPERATURES IN MOST AREAS ESPECIALLY IN THE
VALLEY MAINLY FROM MARINE LAYER INFLUENCE BUT NEAR PERSISTENCE
TOWARDS THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS. WITH LIGHT WIND FLOW...THINK THE
THREAT OF AFTERNOON CONVECTION WILL CONTINUE THURSDAY OVER THE
SIERRA CREST. AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL DIG SOUTHWARD INTO THE
PACIFIC NORTHWEST FRIDAY INCREASING THE SOUTHWEST FLOW OVER THE
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR. THIS WILL PROVIDE A COOL AND STABLE
MARITIME FLOW LIMITING THE CONVECTIVE THREAT OVER THE SIERRA AND
CONTINUE THE RELATIVELY COOL TREND ACROSS THE VALLEY THROUGH
SATURDAY. MV

.LONG TERM...FOR SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...MEDIUM RANGE
MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT IN KEEPING A CLOSED LOW OFF THE
WASHINGTON AND OREGON COAST SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. WITH THIS
SCENARIO A CONTINUED DRY SOUTHWEST FLOW PATTERN WILL BE MAINTAINED
OVER CENTRAL CALIFORNIA ALONG WITH 500 MB HEIGHTS RUNNING AROUND
5820 DM. THIS SHOULD KEEP TEMPERATURES RUNNING AT OR SLIGHTLY BELOW
NORMAL FOR MID JULY. WITH THE SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT, SIERRA
CONVECTION SHOULD NOT OCCUR. DUDLEY

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.

&&

The radar

The San Joaquin Valley radar (KHNX), 120 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:32 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Tulare

When: July 7, 3:32 PM PST to 3:37 PM PST
Where: Tulare County, 18 mi NE of Mineral King
Rating: F0
Path width: 40 yd
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 36.633, -118.350

Hail, Tulare

When: July 7, 3:32 PM PST to 4:47 PM PST
Where: Tulare County, 18 mi NE of Mineral King
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 36.633, -118.350

What these are

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.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history The tornado archive for California, 2004 Warnings in California, July 2004

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: 5405920, 5405921.