Funnel Cloud — Merced, California

2025-03-17 · near (mer)castle Afb, Merced, California

Event narrative

Public reports of a funnel cloud posted on Facebook near the intersection of SR 59 and Oakdale Rd.

Wider weather episode

An upper trough and associated cold front pushed through central California on March 17 bringing rain, mountain snow mainly above 6000 feet and gusty winds across the West Side Hills and to portions of eastern Kern County. The precipitation arrived by the morning of March 17 and spread southward through the day. Thunderstorms broke out during the afternoon of March 17 in the cooler and unstable airmass behind the cold front. The thunderstorms produced localized nuisance flooding along with a few funnel clouds. Precipitation totals were generally a quarter to three quarters of an inch of rainfall in the San Joaquin Valley except areas on the west side of the Valley and the West Side Hills had a tenth of an inch or less due to rain shadowing. The Sierra foothills picked up between three quarters of an inch and an inch and a half of rainfall while the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada generally picked up between 1 and 2 inches of liquid precipitation and the Tehachapi Mountains picked up a half inch to an inch of liquid precipitation. The snow level was between 5500 and 6000 feet for much of this event with several higher elevation SNOTELs picking up and estimated 10 to 20 inches of new snowfall. Gusty winds prevailed along the West Side Hills and in eastern Kern County behind the cold front with several stations reporting peak gusts between 45 and 65 mph. The winds diminished and the precipitation tapered off by the morning of March 18 as the trough moved into the Great Basin Region.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.4162, -120.5130)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1232608. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.