Lightning, Fresno
- When
- March 12, 3:06 PM PST
- Where
- Fresno County, 3 mi S of Mendota
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 36.758, -119.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Hail and Lightning Strike in California, March 12, 2006
Weak convection on the west side of the Central San Joaquin Valley resulted in reports of funnel clouds and small hail. However, the 1/2-inch hail resulted in a young deciduous crop loss (almonds).
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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
- $100,000
- Events
- 4
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.
Weak convection on the west side of the Central San Joaquin Valley resulted in reports of funnel clouds and small hail. However, the 1/2-inch hail resulted in a young deciduous crop loss (almonds).
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 Mar 12, 2:40 PM PST, 26 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 12, 2:40 PM PST, 26 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
240 PM PST SUN MAR 12 2006
.SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...NEAR-TERM
FORECAST CONCERN FOR THIS AFTERNOON/S FORECAST PACKAGE IS THE
POTENTIAL FOR FREEZING TEMPERATURES TONIGHT. THE BIGGEST UNCERTAINTY
IS THE AMOUNT OF SKY COVER OVER THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY OVERNIGHT.
SKIES OVER HANFORD CLEARED THIS AFTERNOON AFTER SOME LIGHT SHOWERS
THIS MORNING...AND THE LATEST GOES VISIBLE IMAGE SHOWS CLOUDS BANKED
UP OVER THE SOUTH END OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...WITH PARTLY CLOUDY
SKIES FURTHER NORTH. AS THE UPPER-LEVEL SHORT-WAVE RIDGE MOVES OVER
THE REGION TONIGHT...EXPECT THE AIRMASS TO STABILIZE WITH WINDS
DECREASING TO LIGHT AND VARIABLE. LOWS IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY THIS MORNING RANGED FROM 30-38 DEGREES. IN THOSE
AREAS WHERE THE SKIES ARE CLEAR...TEMPERATURES COULD BE A FEW
DEGREES COOLER...WITH A MARGINAL FREEZE. THEREFORE...WILL KEEP THE
FREEZE WARNING FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY IN
PLACE FOR NOW.
THE NEXT CONCERN IS THE UPSTREAM PACIFIC STORM...CURRENTLY NEAR
43N/149W. THIS SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO REACH NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BY
MONDAY AFTERNOON...AND WILL DROP INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA MONDAY
NIGHT. 700-MB TEMPERATURES OVER THE HANFORD WARNING/FORECAST AREA
ARE FORECAST TO RANGE FROM -8C TO -12C...WITH 1000-500-MB
THICKNESSES OF AROUND 5400 METERS. THIS WOULD PLACE THE SNOW LEVEL
AT 3500 FEET IN MARIPOSA COUNTY...RISING TO AROUND 4000 FEET IN
TULARE COUNTY...AND 4500 FEET IN THE TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS. HOWEVER...
WITH THE STORM STILL WELL OFFSHORE...THERE COULD BE CHANGES IN THE
STORM TRACK OVER THE NEXT DAY OR SO THAT WOULD IMPACT SNOW LEVELS.
MODEL AND RFC QPF/S YIELD STORM TOTALS OF 0.9 TO 1.2 INCHES. WITH
THE ANTICIPATED LOW SNOW LEVELS...COULD SEE A FOOT OF SNOW AT
YOSEMITE VALLEY...WITH GREATER ACCUMULATIONS OVER THE HIGHER
TERRAIN. PER COLLABORATION WITH WFO/S RENO AND SACRAMENTO...WILL
ISSUE A WINTER STORM WATCH FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA...FROM
YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON...FOR 08-24Z TUESDAY.
.LONG TERM...FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY...MODELS TRENDING
MORE PROGRESSIVE WITH A STORM SYSTEM MOVING INTO THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST COAST THURSDAY. THE ONE EXCEPTION IS THE NOGAPS WHICH
AMPLIFIES AN UPPER RIDGE IN THE EAST PACIFIC THEREBY SLOWING OR
BLOCKING THE PATTERN INTO THE WESTERN U.S. HOWEVER WITH A FAST UPPER
ZONAL FLOW OVER MUCH OF THE U.S. DO NOT SEE A PROBLEM WITH THE
QUICKER TIMING OF PROGS. GFS SHOWS DEEP MOISTURE ALONG A FRONT
REACHING NORTH CALIFORNIA THURSDAY. HENCE PRECIPITATION MAY REACH
THE NORTH SECTORS OF THE CENTRAL VALLEY AND YOSEMITE THURSDAY
AFTERNOON. THE UPPER DYNAMICS WITH LOW WILL MAKE PRECIPITATION
THREAT MORE CERTAIN THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. GFS EVEN MORE
PROGRESSIVE THAN ECMWF AND INDICATES THE UPPER TROUGH EAST OF THE
THE SIERRA BY 12Z SATURDAY. IN CONTRAST EURO CUTS OFF THE LOW OVER
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SATURDAY. WILL LEAVE ISOLATED SHOWERS ENDING
SATURDAY AND DRY SUNDAY UNTIL THERE IS BETTER MODEL CONSENSUS.
&&
.AVIATION...MVFR CEILINGS IN SCT SHRA IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY WITH
LCL IFR CONDITIONS IN ISOLD TSRAGS THRU 03Z. CEILINGS WILL RESULT
IN MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS AND IFR CONDITIONS OVER THE FOOTHILLS AND
MOUNTAINS THROUGH 09Z MONDAY. CLEARING WITH SOME LOCAL LIGHT FOG
10Z-16Z MONDAY. FOR SPECIFIC DETAILS...PLEASE REFER TO TAFS FOR KMCE
...KFAT AND KBFL.
&&
.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...FREEZE WARNING UNTIL 900 PM PST
MONDAY FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY.
...WINTER STORM WATCH FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA...FROM
YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON...FROM MIDNIGHT MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH
TUESDAY AFTERNOON.
&&
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD /USE ALL LOWER CASE/
SANGER/VASQUEZHazardous weather outlook, Mar 12, 9:25 AM PST, 5 hours 41 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA 925 AM PST SUN MAR 12 2006 CAZ093-094-096-097-131200- MARIPOSA MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS-TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS- SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON-TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS- 925 AM PST SUN MAR 12 2006 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SIERRA NEVADA 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...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THEIR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. CAZ095-098-099-131200- KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY- SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT- 925 AM PST SUN MAR 12 2006 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERT. .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THEIR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. CAZ089>092-131200- WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- 925 AM PST SUN MAR 12 2006 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY A FREEZE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TO 9 AM PST MONDAY. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WEATHER MESSAGE /WWUS76 KHNX... SFONPWHNX/ FOR FURTHER DETAILS. AFTER 9 AM PST MONDAY...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS TO THEIR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. PEJ
The radar
The San Joaquin Valley radar (KHNX), 49 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:40 UTC.
Event by event
2 funnel cloud, 1 lightning, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Funnel Cloud, Fresno
- When
- March 12, 3:35 PM PST to 3:40 PM PST
- Where
- Fresno County, 8 mi W of Tranquility
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 36.758, -119.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Hail, Fresno
- When
- March 12, 3:40 PM PST to 3:50 PM PST
- Where
- Fresno County, 14 mi WSW of Tranquility
- Measured
- 0.5 in hail
- Crop damage
- $100,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 36.567, -120.483
Funnel Cloud, Fresno
- When
- March 12, 3:45 PM PST to 3:50 PM PST
- Where
- Fresno County, 11 mi NW of Cantua Creek
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 36.758, -119.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Lightning
- A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
- Funnel Cloud
- A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
- 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
- Wildfire in Texas, March 12 to 18, 2006
- Tornadoes in Missouri, March 12, 2006
- Tornado in Missouri, March 12, 2006
- Tornadoes and Hail in Arkansas, March 12 to 13, 2006
- Tornado in Missouri, March 12, 2006
- Tornadoes and Hail in Missouri, March 12, 2006
- Tornadoes and Hail in Oklahoma, March 12 to 13, 2006
- Tornadoes and Hail in Missouri, March 12, 2006
- Tornado in Missouri, March 12, 2006
- Tornadoes in Missouri, March 12, 2006
- Tornadoes and Hail in Missouri, March 12, 2006
- Tornado in Missouri, March 12, 2006
More
Every storm in California in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in California, March 2006
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: 5496340, 5496341, 5496343, 5496342.