California, 2005Tornado in California, April 8, 2005
April 8, 2005 · NWS HNX · 2 events in 1 county or zone
1 tornado, 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.
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Open the live radar over this ground
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Crop damage
- $50,000
- 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 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 Apr 8, 1:30 PM PST, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 8, 1:30 PM PST, 3 hours 50 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
230 PM PDT FRI APR 8 2005
.SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...REGIONAL DOPPLER
RADARS SHOWING SCATTERED PRECIP ACROSS MUCH OF THE CWFA THIS
AFTERNOON. MAY EVEN SEE AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM LATE THIS AFTERNOON
NEAR MERCED COUNTY AS CONVECTIVE CELLS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP NORTH OF
THE DISTRICT. YET...INSTABILITY OVER ALL BUT MERCED/MARIPOSA
COUNTIES WILL REMAIN TOO WEAK FOR ANY GOOD DEVELOPMENT THROUGH THE
REST OF TODAY. BEST INSTABILITY WILL REMAIN NORTH OVER THE
SACRAMENTO VALLEY WITH MERCED AND MARIPOSA COUNTIES BEING THE
SOUTHERN MOST EXTENT OF THE BEST CAPE AN LI VALUES. YET...AS THE
VORT MAX ENERGY CONTINUES TO DROP INTO THE CWFA EARLY THIS
EVENING...WILL ALLOW THE THREAT OF ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS TO
CONTINUE THROUGH AT LEAST 1100 PM...NORTH OF FRESNO COUNTY. MODELS
BRING THE MOST FAVORABLE FLOW PATTERN IN-PHASE OVER THE CWFA THIS
EVENING. THEREFORE...WHILE WINDS IN THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND
DESERTS ARE RIGHT AT ADVISORY CRITERIA...A +100KTS JET MAX PUSHING
INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA THIS EVENING WILL PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR STRONG
WINDS BY MIXING DOWN SOME OF ITS MOMENTUM. THEREFORE...WILL ALLOW
THE WIND ADVISORY TO CONTINUE THROUGH NOON ON SATURDAY. IN
ADDITION...THE LEFT FRONT QUAD OF THE JET WILL PROVIDE GOOD LIFT TO
CONTINUE THE THREAT OF PRECIP WELL INTO THE NIGHT. WILL MAINTAIN AT
LEAST A SLIGHT CHANCE POTENTIAL FOR PRECIP INTO EARLY SATURDAY. BY
SATURDAY AFTERNOON...RIDGING RETURNS TO THE AREA...ALLOWING FOR THE
FINAL TERMINATION OF THE UNSETTLED CONDITIONS. YET...CLOUDS WILL
STILL PILE UP OVER THE SOUTH END AND EAST SIDE OF THE VALLEY ON
SATURDAY BEFORE BURNING OFF IN THE AFTERNOON. SO...WILL WAIT UNTIL
SUNDAY BEFORE CLEAR CONDITIONS RETURN TO THE ENTIRE DISTRICT.
A OFFSHORE FLOW PATTERN DEVELOPING OVER THE WEEKEND WHICH WILL ALLOW
THE WINDS OVER KERN COUNTY TO REMAIN IN THE BREEZY TO LOCALLY WINDY
CATEGORY. YET...THIS FLOW PATTERN WILL ALSO ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO GO
INTO A WARMING TREND THROUGH THE REST OF THE SHORT TERM INTO MONDAY.
WILL MONITOR MODEL SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS GOING INTO LATER
SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY FOR ANY STRONG WINDS REMAINING OVER THE
DISTRICT THIS WEEKEND.
.LONG TERM...FOR MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...ATTENTION FOR THE LONG
TERM FORECAST TURNS TO THE UPPER-LEVEL LOW IN THE GULF OF ALASKA. A
TROUGH ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOW BEGINS MOVING INTO THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST MONDAY NIGHT...PUSHING THE RIDGE INTO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
THIS WILL BRING ANOTHER ROUND OF COOLER AND UNSETTLED WEATHER TO THE
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR.
THE MEDIUM-RANGE MODELS CONTINUE TO HAVE SOME TIMING DIFFERENCES WITH
THIS NEXT TROUGH...WITH THE GFS MORE PROGRESSIVE THAN THE DGEX/ECMWF/
UKMET. HAVE CONTINUED THE SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR TUESDAY NIGHT OVER
THE NORTHERN SECTIONS OF THE HANFORD WARNING/FORECAST AREA...BUT WITH
THE MAJORITY OF MODELS TRENDING SLOWER IN TIMING AND THE ECMWF DEEPER
WITH THE TROUGH /THE 00Z ECMWF PUTS THE 500-MB 5580-METER HEIGHT LINE
OVER BAKERSFIELD AT 00Z THURSDAY/...HAVE INTRODUCED LOW POPS FOR ALL
OF THE WARNING/FORECAST AREA EXCEPT FOR THE DESERTS. HAVE KEEPS POPS
OUTSIDE THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA LESS THAN 15 PERCENT SO THERE
WOULD BE NO WEATHER WORDING AT THIS TIME DUE TO UNCERTAINTIES ABOUT
MODEL CONSISTENCY. WITH A WESTERLY FLOW OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA
NEVADA WEDNESDAY...HAVE INCREASED POPS SLIGHTLY TO INCLUDE WORDING
FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW.
THE GFS AND DGEX HAVE A NORTHWEST FLOW OVER CALIFORNIA THURSDAY
BEHIND THE TROUGH...THEN THE 00Z GFS BRINGS A WEAK SHORT-WAVE DOWN
THE BACK OF THE TROUGH AND OVER CALIFORNIA FRIDAY MORNING. THIS
FEATURE IS NOT PRESENT ON THE 06Z DGEX...SO WILL WAIT FOR THE NEW GFS
AND DGEX RUNS BEFORE DECIDING WHETHER TO FACTOR THIS WAVE INTO THE
END OF THE FORECAST PERIOD.
&&
.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WIND ADVISORY FOR THE KERN
COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS THROUGH NOON SATURDAY.
&&
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD /USE ALL LOWER CASE/
MOLINA/SANGERHazardous weather outlook, Apr 8, 4:00 AM PST, 13 hours 20 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
500 AM PDT FRI APR 8 2005
CAZ089>094-096-097-091200-
EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
MARIPOSA MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS-
SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON-
SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS-TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-
WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
500 AM PDT FRI APR 8 2005
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND ADJACENT FOOTHILLS... AND THE SOUTHERN
SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO THE KERN COUNTY LINE.
.DAY ONE...TODAY
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY
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.
CAZ095-098-099-091200-
INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-
SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT-
500 AM PDT FRI APR 8 2005
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND
DESERTS.
.DAY ONE...TODAY
A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY UNTIL NOON PDT
SATURDAY. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WEATHER MESSAGE /WWUS76 KHNX/
FOR FURTHER DETAILS.
DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY
THE WIND ADVISORY EXTENDS UNTIL 1200 PM SATURDAY...OTHERWISE NO
HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE PERIOD
AT THIS TIME.
.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.
JWM
Tornado, Merced
- When
- April 8, 5:20 PM PST to 5:32 PM PST
- Where
- Merced County, 1 mi W of Ballico
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 1.2 mi
- Path width
- 50 yd
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Crop damage
- $50,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 37.450, -120.717
At Ballico, one larger funnel ran a course from northwest to southeast just west of the community of Ballico in Northern Merced County with a smaller funnel causing damage in a smaller path northeast of the main funnel in Ballico itself. The tornado was associated convection along pre- and post-trof wind shift line in the Central San Joaquin Valley during the early evening of the 8th.
Funnel Cloud, Merced
- When
- April 8, 5:20 PM PST to 5:25 PM PST
- Where
- Merced County, Gustine
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 37.192, -120.718 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Newspaper reports indicated a funnel cloud observed near Gustine at the same time as the Ballico Tornado.
- 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.
- 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.
- Lightning Strike in Florida, April 8, 20051 death · 1 event
- Strong Wind in Colorado, April 8, 2005$200,000 · 60 kt wind · 1 event
- Winter Storm in California, April 8 to 10, 20053 injured · $40,000 · 2 events
- Lightning Strike in South Carolina, April 8, 2005$125,000 · 1 event
- Tornado in California, April 8, 2005$90,000 · F0 · 1 event
- Strong Wind in Colorado, April 8, 2005$32,000 · 60 kt wind · 2 events
- Wildfire in North Dakota, April 8, 20053 injured · 1 event
- Tornado in California, April 8, 2005$25,000 · F0 · 1 event
- Strong Wind in Utah, April 8, 2005$20,000 · 55 kt wind · 1 event
- High Wind in Nevada, April 8, 2005$20,000 · 50 kt wind · 1 event
- Strong Wind in Colorado, April 8, 2005$17,000 · 60 kt wind · 1 event
- Damaging Wind in California, April 8, 2005$15,000 · 70 kt wind · 1 event
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: 5446563, 5446564.