Rare Tornado Reported Near Fresno as Storm Moves Through California

A tornado reportedly touched down Tuesday afternoon in California’s Central Valley , and the National Weather Service said forecasters were on the way to the scene to assess damage.

Nick Daer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Hanford, California, said a resident reported to local emergency officials at 2:12 p.m. a funnel cloud touched down near the town of Biola, 9 miles west of Fresno.

The weather service issued a tornado warning soon after, telling people nearby to watch for flying debris.

The weather service initially said the tornado was on the ground up to 10 minutes after the report, but later said forecasters were still investigating.

“We can’t officially call it a tornado until we get additional information,” said Brian Ochs, a meteorologist at the local weather service .

The Clovis Unified School District said students had briefly sheltered in place as the severe weather moved through.

Tornadoes are unusual in California but they do occur from time to time. Since 1950, there have been 487 tornadoes in the state, according to data from Golden Gate Weather Services.

The last time a notable tornado touched down in the Fresno area was Jan. 16, 2019, in Clovis. That one was classified as a one on the five-point Enhanced Fujita scale.

The tornado was reported on Tuesday as a storm system off the Pacific Ocean moved across the California. Rain fell over coastal areas and snow dumped in the Sierra Nevada.

The unsettled weather also brought a chance of thunderstorms, particularly in the Central Valley, and there were multiple reports of hail. The weather service warned of a very small tornado risk in the Central Valley.

Daer said that in the Fresno area rain fell in the morning and skies had partially cleared in the afternoon, allowing for some warming.

“That combination of a moist environment and warming air created the conditions for a tornado to form,” he said.

The system will exit California on Wednesday, with some lingering snow and rain showers before the weather dries up.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.