Weather Whys; California Tornadoes

This is weather wise. When you think of tornadoes, the states that most often come to mind are Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and Texas, but not California. For instance, even the states of Maine and Arizona average more tornadoes per square mile than California. But while the golden state is hardly part of tornado alley, funnels aren't completely unknown there. In fact, a week tornado cut a 3 mile swath through areas of Los Angeles on March 1, 1983. And the first two North American tornadoes in 1981 occurred in California, one on January 22nd in Chico, and the other near San Bernardino on the 28th. More recently, the city of Concord saw two small tornadoes in September of 1989. Those twisters turned over a couple of cars and caused some minor roof damage. The process behind the formation of California tornadoes is somewhat different than it is in the plane states.

For one thing, the thunderstorms which produce tornadoes in California tend to form behind cold fronts, while the classic great plane storm occurs ahead of the front. Because the California twisters tend to develop in the region of cold air behind the front, they're known as cold air funnels. And because cold air is more stable than warm air, California tornadoes are generally less powerful than many twisters that form in the planes. But that doesn't necessarily mean they pose less of a threat. Oklahoma's, for example, are so well-drilled in tornado procedure they take steps which often keep them safe even in very dangerous storms. But because they so rarely see them, some Californians might not even recognize a tornado, much less know what to do to protect themselves. We'd like to know what you think of weather-wise. Please write us at Weatherwise, K-G-O-U radio, the University of Oklahoma. Norman, Oklahoma, 73019-025-0. And for weather-wise, I'm Drew Barlow.