Tornado Warning - San Joaquin Valley, Ca.

arent tornadoes uncommon in cali?

Just like the day after tomorrow!

Just like the day after tomorrow!

Is there an echo?

We don't have basements!!! Does that answer your question?

Yep, tornadoes are pretty rare out here. We seem to have started to get them more often since last year.

Tornado just reported

2248 2 SE MERCED MERCED CA 3728 12046 POWER LINES DOWN. ROOF TORN OFF BARN. (HNX)

03/28/06 2:58 PST

BARDSQUILL: Merced has a tornado warning

[link to iwin.nws.noaa.gov]

MERCED RESIDENT: yeah - watched it on TV - golf size hail

MERCED RESIDENT: winds here were really bad - thunder boomers too

BARDSQUILL: THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...

MERCED BY 315 PM PST

BARDSQUILL: 6 minutes

MERCED RESIDENT: thundering here again now

MERCED RESIDENT: black clouds flying by

BARDSQUILL: look south

MERCED RESIDENT: sun is shining - and thundering at same time

BARDSQUILL: hear anything? like a roar?

MERCED RESIDENT: let me go outside

BARDSQUILL: aaaagh

BARDSQUILL: might not be a good idea to go outside

MERCED RESIDENT: its dead calm out there except for the rumbling of the thunder in the cloud that just passed us

MERCED RESIDENT: we had horrible winds before

MERCED RESIDENT: there is a trail of black cloud off to the south but its real thin and BLACK

BARDSQUILL: gulp

MERCED RESIDENT: not tornado - real thin and wispy

MERCED RESIDENT: odd looking

BARDSQUILL: ummm...does it go down to the ground

MERCED RESIDENT: no - not that far

MERCED RESIDENT: now its dead quiet out there again

BARDSQUILL: maybe it touched down south somwheres

MERCED RESIDENT: probably not

MERCED RESIDENT: I'll turn the radio on and see what they have to say

MERCED RESIDENT: oh - Savage is on

MERCED RESIDENT: will have to wait for news in 5 minutes

MERCED RESIDENT: can hear lightning in radio

BARDSQUILL: weird

BARDSQUILL: wait, you in Mariposa or Merced?

MERCED RESIDENT: near Merced

BARDSQUILL: ah, my old stompin grounds

MERCED RESIDENT: yeah :-)

BARDSQUILL: used to murder pheasants in Merced for which I will burn in hell.

MERCED RESIDENT: yeah - right - come and feed the ones in my orchard

BARDSQUILL: not peasant--PHEASANT

MERCED RESIDENT: ah :-)

BARDSQUILL: your storm cell somewhere in this mess

[link to cyberspaceorbit.com]

This is a weather service explanation of Californias current odd weather. Whats interesting though is that the explanation entails the odd weather patterns of almost the entire planet.



THE PERSISTENCE OF THIS PATTERN IS BECOMING QUITE REMARKABLE. THE COMPLETE LACK OF A HUDSON BAY LOW AND THE STRONG POSITIVE ANOMALY THAT HAS PERSISTED OVER GREENLAND HAVE ESSENTIALLY BLOCKED SYSTEMS FROM MOVING DUE EAST INTO CANADA AND FORCED THEM SOUTH INTO THE US. THE OTHER MAJOR ANCHOR FOR MAINTAINING THIS PATTERN HAS BEEN THE PERSISTENT BROAD UPPER RIDGE NEAR 160W. THIS HAS BEEN SUPPORTED BY THE ALMOST CONTINUOUS KONA LOW TYPE SYSTEMS THAT HAVE PLAGUED HAWAII FOR ALMOST TWO MONTHS. THE HEATING GENERATED BY THE PERSISTENT CONVECTION HELPS BUILD THE RIDGE TO THE NORTH WHICH AMPLIFIES THE DOWNSTREAM TROUGHS WHICH HAPPENS TO BE THE SYSTEMS THAT HAVE BEEN TRACKING INTO CALIFORNIA FOR OVER A MONTH. FINALLY THE CONVECTION OVER AUSTRALIA THAT HAS SUPPORTED MULTIPLE TROPICAL CYCLONES IS ALSO HELPING TO ANCHOR THE LONG WAVE PATTERN. THE RIDGE BUILDING NORTH OF THIS CONVECTION HAS AMPLIFIED THE VERY DEEP TROUGHS THAT HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING EAST OF JAPAN WHICH HAS ALSO HELPED BUILD THE BROAD LONG WAVE RIDGE DOWNSTREAM NEAR 160W. UNTIL WE SEE ANY OF THESE THREE MAJOR ANCHOR POINTS BREAK DOWN THE UNUSUALLY WET AND COLD PATTERN FOR CALIFORNIA WILL CONTINUE. RIGHT NOW THIS LOOKS LIKE IT WILL CONTINUE INTO NEXT WEEK AT LEAST.

Good info, thanks PA.

california has had tornado activity in every month, but it isn't common. show me where this is anything like Day After Tomorrow.

You don't have basements because of earthquakes.Not the lack of tornados.

Hello from a San Joaquin resident! I have lived here all of my life (40something years) and we rarely have a tornado warning. So far this spring we have had 2. The one near me in Sanger weeks ago almost touched down but did not. The one today in Merced did, and they are showing it's damage as I write. We have had an abundance of rain, which is also out of the norm. We do not have basements here because we don't have basements here. Earthquakes while I was young were not as common as now. I have lived in two homes that are older than I, and neither had basements. (However, right about now, I wish I had one...for a variety of reasons!)

Dr Postman will have you believe the weather is normal all around the world right now.

The guy is so freakin credible???? sic