A tornado touched down in California’s Central Valley on Tuesday afternoon, 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, said a resident reported to the Fresno Police Department that at 2:12 p.m. a funnel cloud touched down near the town of Biola, nine miles west of Fresno. It was moving northeast at 15 miles per hour, he said.
The Weather Service issued a tornado warning soon after, telling people nearby to watch for flying debris.
The tornado was still on the ground more than 10 minutes later, Mr. Daer said.
Tornados 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-pount Enhanced Fujita scale.
The tornado formed as a storm off the Pacific Ocean moved across the northern half of California on Wednesday. Mr. Daer said rain fell Tuesday morning and skies had cleared in the afternoon.
“That combination of a moist environment and warming air created the conditions for a tornado to form,” he said.
Amy Graff is a Times reporter covering weather, wildfires and earthquakes.
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