3/21/11 DISC: CA

[Nick Biermann]

Local news reports and viewer photos indicate that a well-developed funnel cloud/tornado occurred near the town of Maxwell in Colusa County, CA earlier this afternoon.

News stories and viewer-submitted photo galleries from local TV stations in Sacramento can be found here:
http://www.kcra.com/weather/27268680/detail.html
http://www.kcra.com/slideshow/weather/27268941/detail.html
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2011/03/21/funnel-cloud-spotted-in-colusa-county/
http://www.news10.net/news/story.aspx?storyid=129616

 

[Andy Jackson]

Not bad, It seems like CA is getting some good action this year.

 

[R R Smith]

I considered a northern Sacramento Valley chase today (Maxwell is about 3 hours from Yreka) but talked myself out of it (unleaded regular is $4.07 here!). There was adequate CAPE (250-300 j/kg) and plenty of sunbreaks in the forecast but low level shear seemed whimpy. I'm still trying to bag my first California tornado... but am not going get it done watching GR Level 3 on my office computer. Dang...

 

[Jason Harris]

Great pics, and interesting how once again CA pulls out a tornado without a "see text" or "slight risk" while the other areas don't produce. Nice sunny breaks around that storm too. Pretty brief tornado if it was really just "5 seconds": http://www.kcra.com/video/27269835/detail.html


This earlier report claims there were two funnels: 3 PM and 3:45
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2011/03/21/funnel-cloud-spotted-in-colusa-county/

 

[Toni Scholz]

Maxwell, CA Tornado 3/21/11

Great pics, and interesting how once again CA pulls out a tornado without a "see text" or "slight risk" while the other areas don't produce. Nice sunny breaks around that storm too. Pretty brief tornado if it was really just "5 seconds": http://www.kcra.com/video/27269835/detail.html


This earlier report claims there were two funnels: 3 PM and 3:45
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2011/03/21/funnel-cloud-spotted-in-colusa-county/

I'm not sure about two funnels, but there were two separate tor warnings issued for the same cell. The first had expired and a second one was issued about 15 minutes following the first.

 

[Jason Harris]

EF-0 officially:
--
...GLENN COUNTY TORNADO/FUNNEL CLOUD ASSESSMENT...

AFTER A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SITE SURVEY MONDAY EVENING...IT
HAS BEEN CONFIRMED BY EYEWITNESSES THAT A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN
BRIEFLY IN AN OPEN AREA WEST OF MAXWELL...AFTER 3 PM PDT MONDAY
AFTERNOON.

THE TORNADO DID NOT DO ANY SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE AND THEREFORE WILL
BE CLASSIFIED AS AN EF ZERO...ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE.

$$
JHM

 

[Shane Motley]

I considered a northern Sacramento Valley chase today (Maxwell is about 3 hours from Yreka) but talked myself out of it (unleaded regular is $4.07 here!). There was adequate CAPE (250-300 j/kg) and plenty of sunbreaks in the forecast but low level shear seemed whimpy. I'm still trying to bag my first California tornado... but am not going get it done watching GR Level 3 on my office computer. Dang...

I remember my chasing days out there...between the urban areas, hard-to-find river crossings, and the quick development and dissipation of the tornado itself, I was never successful. The closest I ever came to witnessing a tornado out there was a long-lived funnel cloud that developed just south of Davis in 1992. I must say, the tornado that developed yesterday looks much better than what I witnessed in 1992; however, at the time, I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. Thanks for posting the links, Nick!