Tornadoes · United States · California · 2007
EF0 tornado, Rosamond to Mojave, California, September 1, 2007
From Rosamond to Mojave, this EF0 tornado ran 13.1 miles across Kern County on September 1, 2007, touching down at 4:30 PM PDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $175,000 of property damage.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 mph
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 mph
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.
The record
- Rating
- EF0
- Date
- September 1, 2007
- Touchdown
- 4:30 PM PDT (23:30 UTC)
- Lifted
- 4:50 PM PDT (23:50 UTC)
- On the ground
- 20 minutes
- Path length
- 13.1 miles (21.0 km)
- Path width
- 75 yards (69 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $175,000
- County
- Kern County
- Touchdown point
- 34.839, -118.207
- Lift-off point
- 35.023, -118.156
- Record number
- 0709011730-01
What the Weather Service recorded
A strong ridge of high pressure aloft lingered over California and the Desert Southwest the first 3 days of the month, keeping the central and southern San Joaquin Valley under triple-digit heat. A monsoonal flow triggered thunderstorms over the mountains and the Kern county deserts, and one thunderstorm near Rosamond on September 1st spawned a tornado that moved through the town; a National Weather Service storm survey rated the tornado at EF0 on the new Enhanced Fujita scale. As the thunderstorm collapsed, it generated high winds that knocked down several power poles and created areas of blowing dust. Other thunderstorms in the same complex dropped ��-inch hail on the town of Boron in the southeastern corner of Kern county, generated a wind gust measured at 83 mph at the Mojave Air and Spaceport, and caused flash flooding in the vicinity of Mojave and California City.
Official NWS damage survey determined that an EF0 (Enhanced Fujita) tornado touched down about 3 miles southwest of Rosamond...then traveled north through Rosamond and northeast to about 3 miles southeast of Mojave. This tornado had estimated wind speeds of 65-85 mph. The first touchdown occurred near the intersection of Avenue A and 40th Street West, which is about 3 miles southwest of Rosamond. Minor property damage occurred in this area with several fences blown over and small trees and branches downed. The tornado then traveled north to around Rosamond Blvd, where numerous utility poles were blown over, branches were downed and some miscellaneous debris was found. The path then curved northeast and crossed Highway 14 near Dawn and Backus Roads and Sierra Highway. Damage in this area amounted to some property damage to several mobile homes. Minor debris was found a few miles southeast of Mojave, which is the area that the tornado dissipated.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
21 minutes of warning. NWS HNX issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:09 UTC, 21 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:45 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23:09 UTC | 23:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | HNX |
| 23:43 UTC | 01:45 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | HNX |
| 23:44 UTC | 00:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | HNX |
| 00:09 UTC | 01:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | HNX |
| 00:17 UTC | 00:43 UTC | Tornado Warning | HNX |
Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.
The forecast that day
The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 19:57 UTC.
SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23:07 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 2 S Rosamond | Kern, CA | PUBLIC REPORTS OF A FUNNEL CLOUD RELAYED THROUGH KERN COUNTY SHERIFF BETWEEN ROSAMOND AND LANCASTER. |
| 23:12 UTC | TORNADO 0 | Rosamond | Kern, CA | NWS DAMAGE SURVEY DETERMINED THAT AN EF0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ABOUT 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ROSAMOND...THEN TRAVELED NORTH THROUGH ROSAMOND AND NORTHEAST TO ABOUT 3 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MOJAVE. THE PATH WAS ESTIMATED AT 12 MI |
| 23:12 UTC | TORNADO | Rosamond | Kern, CA | TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTER LOCATED IN ROSAMOND NEAR SIERRA HIGHWAY AND ROSAMOND BLVD...REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR AVE A BETWEEN 40TH AND 50TH STREETS. |
| 23:12 UTC | TORNADO | Rosamond | Kern, CA | TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTER REPORTED A TORNADO IN ROSAMOND NEAR SIERRA HIGHWAY AND HIGHWAY 14. |
| 23:20 UTC | TORNADO | 8 Se Lancaster | Los Angeles, CA | WEAK TORNADO ON THE GROUND. |
| 23:30 UTC | TORNADO 0 | Rosamond | Kern, CA | NWS DAMAGE SURVEY DETERMINED THAT AN EF0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ABOUT 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ROSAMOND...THEN TRAVELED NORTH THROUGH ROSAMOND AND NORTHEAST TO ABOUT 3 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MOJAVE. THE PATH WAS ESTIMATED AT 11 MI |
| 23:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Rosamond | Kern, CA | A SPOTTER REPORTED A POWER POLE ON A HOUSE ON 53RD STREET ON THE WEST SIDE OF ROSAMOND. TIME LISTED IS WHEN EVENT WAS REPORTED TO NWS HNX. ACTUAL TIME MAY HAVE BEEN EARLIER. |
| 23:40 UTC | TORNADO | Wnw Rosamond | Kern, CA | THE NWS HAS DETERMINED THAT AN F0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR THE CITY OF ROSAMOND ON SEP 1 2007 FROM 1630 PDT TO 1730 PDT. |
| 23:42 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Rosamond | Kern, CA | SPOTTER REPORTED POWER POLES DOWN IN ROSAMOND BETWEEN 40TH AND 50TH STREET WITH BLOWING DUST MOVING IN FROM THE SOUTHWEST. |
| 23:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Ssw Lake Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | SEVERAL TREE LIMBS DOWN 5 INCH DIAMTER ALONG ANTELOPE HWY 14 BETWEEN AVE N AND 50TH ST. EAST |
| 23:45 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 2 Ssw Lake Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | FLASH FLOODING UP TO 1 FT DEEP ALONG PALMDALE BLVD. AROUND AVE J. |
| 23:50 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 3 Ssw Palmdale | Los Angeles, CA | FLASH FLOODING AT AVE 0 TO AVE 08 |
| 23:50 UTC | TORNADO | 3 N Lancaster | Los Angeles, CA | |
| 23:57 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Rosamond | Kern, CA | TOTAL OF SIX TELEPHONE POLES BLEW DOWN IN ROSAMOND NEAR 40TH STREET AND ROSAMOND BLVD. UPDATE ON EARLIER REPORT. TIME IS WHEN REPORT WAS GIVEN TO NWS IN HNX. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2007 tornado in CaliforniaEvery tornado in California since 1950Warnings in force in California nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of September 1, 2007
1 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1 | 4:20 PM PDT | EF0 | Los Angeles, CA | 0.1 | 10 |
What this means
Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.