Tornado in California, March 28, 2006

Name: Tornado in California, March 28, 2006
Start: 2006-03-28T14:48
End: 2006-03-28T14:53
Location: California

March 28, 2006 · NWS HNX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $10,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 Mar 28, 2:45 PM PST, 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 28, 2:45 PM PST, 3 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
245 PM PST TUE MAR 28 2006

.SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...MANY ITEMS TO
COVER SO EACH WILL BE BRIEF. FOR THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...RADAR AND
SATELLITE SHOW STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED FROM
MERCED COUNTY NORTH AS COOLING ALOFT AND AFTERNOON HEATING AT THE
SURFACE COMBINE WITH THE VERY MOIST ATMOSPHERE. WATCHING THE LINE
OVER WESTERN MERCED COUNTY FOR SEVERE AND THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT
SHOULD PROPAGATE SOUTHEAST. THE MAIN FRONTAL PRECIPITATION BAND IS
JUST COMING ONSHORE IN THE BAY AREA AND THIS WILL MOVE EAST LATER
TODAY AND TONIGHT WITH MORE RAIN. EXPECT THE SOUTH VALLEY TO HAVE
PERIODS OF RAIN AND THEN MORE STEADY RAIN LATER AS THE FRONT MOVES
THROUGH. LOOKS LIKE CONTINUED SHOWERY WEATHER FOR WEDNESDAY MORNING
WITH SHOWERS ENDING WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. STILL LOOKS DRY THURSDAY
AND FOR MUCH OF FRIDAY.

IN THE SIERRA, SNOW CONTINUES TO FALL AT A GOOD CLIP ABOVE 6000 FEET
IN THE YOSEMITE AREA AND 7000 FEET OVER THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS.
FORECAST QPF SUGGESTS ANOTHER 2 FEET OR MORE OF SNOW OVER THE
SIERRA. THINGS ARE A LITTLE BIT MORE TRICKY FOR THE KERN COUNTY
MOUNTAINS AS SNOW LEVELS HAVE REMAINED HIGH. SO FAR, REPORTED
STATIONS AT 7000 FEET ARE RUNNING IN THE MID 30S AND UNTIL COLDER
AIR ARRIVES THIS EVENING, MOST POPULATED AREAS AND ROADWAYS WILL
STAY JUST WET FROM RAIN. STILL THE PROBABILITY OF SNOW DOWN NEAR
PASS LEVEL LATER TONIGHT. WILL KEEP THE WARNINGS GOING.

OVER THE KERN COUNTY DESERTS RAIN SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE FOR TONIGHT
AND WEDNESDAY...THE FORECAST LOOKS GOOD HERE.

NEXT SYSTEM LOOKS ON TRACK FOR LATER FRIDAY FOR ANOTHER SHOT OF
PRECIPITATION.

.LONG TERM...FOR FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...PER HPC DISCUSSION
WILL ACCEPT THE GFS SOLUTION THROUGH MOST OF THE EXTENDED PERIOD.
ACTUALLY ECMWF...UKMET...AND GFS ALL IN GOOD AGREEMENT ON FRIDAYS
SYSTEM SHIFTING ONSHORE LATE FRIDAY/FRIDAY NIGHT. THIS WILL KEEP A
CHANCE OF RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW OVER MOST OF THE DISTRICT INTO
SATURDAY MORNING. WEAK RIDGING FOR SUNDAY WILL RETURN DRY WEATHER TO
THE DISTRICT. A DEVELOPING SOUTHWEST FLOW PATTERN ALOFT WILL CAUSE
MID LEVEL WARM AIR ADVECTION OVER THE DISTRICT LEADING TO A SLIGHT
WARMING TREND SUNDAY AND MONDAY. THE 12Z ENSEMBLE MEAN THIS MORNING
SUPPORTS THE SLOWER AND DEEPER ECMWF WITH RESPECT TO THE DEVELOPMENT
OF A TROUGH OFF THE WEST COAST EARLY NEXT WEEK. ECMWF MAY BE A
LITTLE OVER DONE WITH THE FEATURE BUT WILL GIVE ANOTHER SLIGHT
CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION MOVING ACROSS THE DISTRICT MONDAY INTO
TUESDAY. COOLER TUESDAY AS THE OFFSHORE TROUGH EDGES CLOSER TO THE
WEST COAST WITH DECREASING THICKNESSES AND HEIGHTS.

&&

.AVIATION...EXPECT MOSTLY VFR CONDITIONS OVER THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
AND KERN COUNTY DESERTS EXCEPT MVFR DUE TO CEILINGS AND VISIBILITY
IN SHOWERS. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THIS EVENING. MOUNTAIN
OBSCURATION OVER SIERRA NEVADA AND TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS DUE TO CLOUDS
AND SHOWERS.  FOR SPECIFIC DETAILS...PLEASE REFER TO TAFS FOR
KMCE...KFAT AND KBFL.

&&

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE
      SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA AND TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS THROUGH
      TONIGHT.

&&

WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

DUDLEY/CM

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 28, 5:00 AM PST, 9 hours 48 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
500 AM PST TUE MAR 28 2006

CAZ095>097-291300-
KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON-
TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-
500 AM PST TUE MAR 28 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA
AND THE KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED THROUGH THE DAY. PLEASE REFER TO
THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE /WWUS46 KHNX/ FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY
WEDNESDAY. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE /WWUS46
KHNX/ FOR FURTHER DETAILS. OTHERWISE NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS
EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS TO THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
OFFICE.

CAZ089>094-098-099-291300-
WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
MARIPOSA MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS-TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS-
INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT-
500 AM PST TUE MAR 28 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF
THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS POSSIBLE IN THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF
THE VALLEY AND OVER THE KERN COUNTY DESERT THROUGH THE DAY.

.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 THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
OFFICE.

PEJ

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 28, 10:32 AM PST, 4 hours 16 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY CA
1032 AM PST TUE MAR 28 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1027 AM     HEAVY SNOW       LODGEPOLE               36.60N 118.73W
03/28/2006  M16.0 INCH       TULARE             CA   PARK/FOREST SRVC

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       TUOLUMNE MEADOWS        37.87N 119.36W
03/28/2006  M7.0 INCH        TUOLUMNE           CA   PARK/FOREST SRVC

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       KAISER POINT SNOTEL     37.30N 119.10W
03/28/2006  E19.0 INCH       FRESNO             CA   MESONET

            ESTIMATED BY SNOTEL

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       TAMARACK SUMMIT SNOTEL  37.17N 119.20W
03/28/2006  E15.0 INCH       FRESNO             CA   MESONET

            ESTIMATED BY SNOTEL

&&

DUDLEY

The radar

The San Francisco radar (KMUX), 128 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:48 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Merced

When: March 28, 2:48 PM PST to 2:53 PM PST
Where: Merced County, 1 mi SE of Merced
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.2 mi
Path width: 30 yd
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 37.283, -120.467

A trained spotter noted a funnel cloud approaching the city of Merced and tracked the northward movement of that funnel. At 1448 PST the funnel removed half of the corrugated roof of a farm maintenance shop and lifted it up and over adjacent power lines to the north. Eyewitness accounts indicated rotation and movement of the lowest level clouds toward the NE approximately 0.19 miles. Other than two ground contact points, beginning and end of the damage track, there was no evidence of any other ground contact from the funnel. Analysis by a local structural engineer aided in the assignment of the F0 rating.

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.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history The tornado archive for California, 2006 Warnings 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: 5496347.