EF0 Tornado — Glenn, California

2009-01-24 · near Codora, Glenn, California

Event narrative

A California Highway Patrol officer observed a funnel cloud form in a wall cloud and drop down on a farm around 3:00 pm PST. The tornado ripped most of the tin roof panels off of a 70 year old barn and also from a chicken coop. Roof pieces were found in a tree and in adjacent fields up to one half of a mile away. One tin roof piece shorted out power lines, causing a loss of power to the neighborhood. A pickup truck suffered damage to the driver side mirror from flying debris. Netting from pheasant pens was ripped up. A large steel hopper was knocked over. The farmhouse was undamaged and the farm animals were apparently unharmed.

The tornado was non-supercellular and formed when a line of eastward moving thunderstorms ahead of a cold front collided with a westward moving thunderstorm. Neighbors 2 miles away in Princeton took photos of the tornado touching down in a burned rice field briefly before it went aloft and then dropped down on the barn. The tornado was reported to have touched down again just across the street in a field, dropping panels from the barn roof. Another funnel cloud was also reported which did not touch down.

Wider weather episode

A short lived tornado briefly touched down on a farm in the central Sacramento Valley. This tornado badly damaged a barn and a chicken coop. No injuries occurred.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.3602, -122.0406)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 146881. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.