3/23/11 DISC: CA

[Jason Harris]

Would you believe it? Another Colusa county tornado?
12214 AN NWS SURVEY DETERMINED A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN WILLIAMS. THERE WERE 6 HOMES PARTIALLY DAMAGED. THE DAMAGE PATH WAS ESTIMATED TO HAVE BEEN 1 MILE LONG. A PRELIMINARY

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news coverage--another EF-0 apparently:
http://www.fox40.com/news/headlines...ted-in-calusa-county-20110323,0,4242419.story

Seems like around 3 PM is the magic tornado hour in CA like 6 PM is tornado time in some other spots:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/mar/23/tornado-causes-damage-in-rural-northern-calif-town/

Anyone see any of that action?

 

[Nick Biermann]

Wow, that is amazing! That would be the second tornado in Colusa County in just 3 days.

I was able to find funnel pics on this news site
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2011/03/23/possible-funnel-cloud-spotted-in-williams/

 

[R R Smith]

Well... I was chasing on Wednesday in that neck of the woods. I was playing around with a couple of cells north of Williams when that cell blew up (in a "California" way) on GR3. NWS Sacramento severe warned it and in the text mentioned that a spotter had reported a funnel cloud. They also mention in the text that the storm was only showing weak rotation - with hail being the primary concern. I attempted an intercept but ran into some flooding - not uncommon in California's rice country this time of year. Here's the final report:

0300 PM TORNADO 1 WSW WILLIAMS 39.15N 122.15W 03/23/2011 COLUSA CA NWS STORM SURVEY

FINAL REPORT FROM THE NWS DAMAGE SURVEY - AN EF0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN WILLIAMS. THE DAMAGE PATH WAS 3/4 MILE AND THE ESTIMATED WIND SPEED WAS 80 MPH. SIX HOMES WERE PARTIALLY DAMAGED IN ADDITION TO TWO CARS... AN OUT BUILDING... AND A RADIO TOWER.