Tornado warning for LA (Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Long Beach)

[whatchamacallit]

Source: National Weather Service

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OXNARD CA
917 PM PST THU JAN 24 2008

CAC037-250600-
/O.CON.KLOX.TO.W.0003.000000T0000Z-080125T0600Z/
LOS ANGELES CA-
917 PM PST THU JAN 24 2008

...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM PST FOR
SOUTHERN LOS ANGELES COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA INCLUDING
THE CITIES OF LONG BEACH...SAN PEDRO...LAKEWOOD AND NORWALK...


AT 912 PST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A
TORNADO. THE CELL WAS 4 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF LONG BEACH...
AND WAS MOVING NORTH AT 25 MPH. IT WILL MOVE ONSHORE BY
930 PM PST.

OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO
HAWTHORNE...TORRANCE AND LYNWOOD

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR
HANDS.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

Read more: http://forecast.weather.gov/wwamap/wwatxtget.php?cwa=usa&wwa=Tornado%20Warning

---

Yikes, made me think of 'Day After Tomorrow'

[rwenos]

1. Torrance -- No activity Yet

Wind from the south at 18 mph, gusting to 27 mph. I look out the window and see nothing coming. Just rain and some wind.

Thanks, you guys, for warning me.

LA = Fires, floods, tornadoes. Proof we're really Sodom and Gomorrah.

Or maybe it's Scientology, eh?

[Duer 157099]

5. Or Oz. Hold onto Toto!

But seriously, be careful, and keep us posted as you can (I have family down there, further north than you though)

[rwenos]

10. NWS Just Lifted the Tornado Warning

for southern Los Angeles County.

BUT: Flash flood warning for Oxnard and Ventura County.

Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas any more.:-)

[Duer 157099]

2. "Safest place is a basement..."

Raise of hands: how many of you Californian's have a basement?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

[Spinzonner]

4. Does debasement count ?

We got plenty of that.

[Duer 157099]

7. Hehe, yeah, we sure do n/t

[Emillereid]

6. That's a joke. Los Angelinos don't even know what a basement is.

[yurbud]

33. Why is that? we have basements in Oregon.

[Emillereid]

34. As I understand it basements are necessary where the freezing line is below

ground level, so the foundation has to be below the freeze line. A slab on grade is typically used in areas where the ground doesn't freeze like Southern California. It is very rare for a house to have even a small basement in LA. It's too bad because basements gives one a lot more space.

[yurbud]

36. I thought they didn't have basements because it's nice often enough to send kids outside

instead of to the basement.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. No activity here in Manhattan Beach either...

Just some light rain...

Maybe the worst danger is over?

[Duer 157099]

8. Looks like the brunt of it is inland and a bit south of you

Comes onshore closer to Long Beach and then sweeps north

[whatchamacallit]

9. I think they spotted a heavy cell with possibility of wind rotation or some such shit...

Probably very low probability.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

11. My dear ResetButton...

Thanks to you, and to dotcosm too...

It's great to have DU'ers looking out for each other!

:hi:

[uppityperson]

12. Tornado was at Point Mugu, Ventura, earlier. Link to page

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/080124_rpts.html
POINT MUGU VENTURA CA 3409 11906 AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER AT POINT MUGU NAS TOWER OBSERVED A TORNADO MOVING OVER THE AIRFIELD ABOUT ONE QUARTER MILE FROM THE TOWER. TORNADO WAS BACKLIT WITH NEAR HORIZONA (LOX)

This map is for "today", so will change daily. There is a link at website to go back and forward.

[rwenos]

14. Second Tornado Warning, SW Los Angeles County - LIFTED

WAS spotted about 9:15 pm, looks like it headed due north from off coast of Long Beach. Weather channel showed a big fat cell going inland, hitting South Central LA hard, no tornado, just very heavy rain in a cell traveling north.

Thank goodness. Dodged a bullet there, methinks. Thanks for everyone's warning!

[catzies]

35. Pt. Mugu reporting in - tornado ripped roof of a Naval base hangar

(Camarillo-Pt. Mugu, next to Oxnard) It was hailing here at exactly the same time the tornado hit. Helluva storm so far.

[orleans]

13. i didn't know l.a. is prone to tornados n/t

[Viva_La_Revolution]

18. about once every year or 3...

but it looks like 82 and 83 were a little crazy..

Los Angeles County Tornadoes

JAN 26, 1918 001 1330 0 0 F2 037
APR 05, 1926 002 0 0 F2 037
MAR 15, 1930 001 1140 0 4 F2 037
MAR 02, 1934 001 1340 0 0 F0 037
FEB 12, 1936 001 1530 0 0 F0 037
NOV 11, 1944 001 2100 0 0 F2 037
DEC 20, 1952 001 1200 0 0 F1 037
JAN 18, 1955 001 1101 0 0 F1 037
MAY 09, 1956 002 0830 0 1 F0 037
FEB 19, 1962 002 1600 0 0 F1 037
MAY 14, 1962 004 1200 0 0 F1 037
NOV 09, 1964 003 0700 0 0 F1 037
NOV 07, 1966 003 1300 0 0 F2 037
NOV 07, 1966 004 1300 0 10 F2 037
APR 18, 1967 001 1800 0 0 F0 037
MAY 08, 1977 003 1000 0 0 F1 037
JAN 04, 1978 001 1515 0 0 F1 037
FEB 09, 1978 003 2230 0 0 F1 037
JAN 31, 1979 002 1045 0 0 F1 037
JAN 28, 1980 002 1315 0 0 F0 037
MAR 29, 1982 005 2130 0 0 F1 037
NOV 09, 1982 008 0930 0 0 F1 037
NOV 09, 1982 009 1130 0 0 F2 037
NOV 09, 1982 010 1200 0 0 F2 037
NOV 09, 1982 011 1200 0 0 F0 037
MAR 01, 1983 002 0740 0 30 F2 037
MAR 01, 1983 003 0815 0 0 F0 037
SEP 30, 1983 007 0700 0 0 F0 037
SEP 30, 1983 008 2235 0 3 F1 037
MAY 30, 1984 002 0915 0 0 F0 037
JUN 05, 1987 003 1315 0 0 F0 037
JAN 16, 1990 002 2120 0 0 F0 037
MAR 19, 1991 004 0200 0 0 F0 037
MAR 20, 1992 002 1900 0 0 F1 037
JAN 17, 1993 004 2345 0 0 F0 037
FEB 07, 1994 001 1545 0 0 F0 037
JUN 16, 1995 006 1155 0 0 F0 037
JLY 21, 1997 009 1555 0 0 F0 037
JAN 09, 1998 001 1400 0 0 F1 037
APR 01, 1999 001 1400 0 0 F0 037
AUG 28, 2000 006 1345 0 0 F0 037
http://www.tornadoproject.com/alltorns/catorn.htm

[Clovis Sangrail]

19. warnings... but how often are there actually tornados?

I don't recall there ever being one in the 30 years I was in LA. ... at least not one major enough to make a dent in the news cycle.

[Naythan]

20. These are confirmed tornadoes.

The last entry is thus: AUG 28, 2000 006 1345 0 0 F0 037

AUG 28, 2000 is the date; 006 is the event number; 1345 is the time; 0 0 indicates number of deaths/injuries; F0 is the ranking based on the Fugita Scale; and 037 is the county code. In this case, Los Angeles County, CA.

So, on August 28, 2000 at 1345 (1:45pm PDT) there was an F0 tornado in Los Angeles County, CA which caused 0 deaths and 0 injuries and was the sixth weather event of the day.

Hope that helps.

[Clovis Sangrail]

21. tnx

Obviously I didn't really look at it. :blush:

My response was based on honestly never hearing about a tornado while living there.

[kestrel91316]

31. We get a tornado or two every winter with these big, cold storms.

They usually hit down in the Long Beach to Orange County area. And they are not big - just F1s IIRC.

[LandOLincoln]

22. 1982 was monumentally crazy. There was a very strong

El Nino condition that year, resulting in a series of strong storms in the L.A. area.

I was living in the Silverlake Hills then, and had a big picture window with a southern view, looking out over the city. In November there was a wind- and rainstorm so bad I had serious fears that window would blow in. I don't remember ever experiencing wind like that, even growing up in Illinois where tornado warnings and watches were just another sign of spring.

Upshot was, we lost power for 3-4 days, and the big news was that a small funnel had hit the downtown area, doing some relatively minor damage to the Civic Center.

So it can happen, even in L.A. :hide:

[Zoigal]

15. Thank you, Reset

Noted the warning on the Weatherbug alert also.
Been through quite a few of these in the midwest but this is a
first for me in CA. z

[rumpel]

16. wind and rain was pretty bad for a while but

the warning expired .

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OXNARD CA
1000 PM PST THU JAN 24 2008

CAC037-250610-
/O.EXP.KLOX.TO.W.0003.000000T0000Z-080125T0600Z/
LOS ANGELES CA-
1000 PM PST THU JAN 24 2008

...THE TORNADO WARNING FOR SOUTHERN LOS ANGELES COUNTY HAS
EXPIRED..

THE STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING THROUGH SOUTHERN LOS ANGELES COUNTY
HAS WEAKENED SLIGHTLY...BUT WILL STILL PRODUCE TORRENTIAL RAINS
WITH FLOODING...SMALL HAIL AND LOCALLY GUSTY WINDS. ADDITIONAL
SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORMS ACTIVITY OFF THE COAST WILL MOVE ONSHORE
THROUGH THE NIGHT.


LAT...LON 3370 11835 3373 11838 3395 11837 3394 11796
3391 11796 3385 11804 3379 11808 3375 11808
3373 11811 3375 11818 3369 11831
TIME...MOT...LOC 0600Z 183DEG 90KT 4867 4737

(between Santa Monica & Malibu)

First time ever in my entire 27 years here in the southland.

[cbayer]

17. avalon harbor

on a boat in the harbor. howling, raining hard off and on. thankfully no waterspouts or lightning. fun watching the radar on weather.com. well....we do need the rain.

[medeak]

24. welcome to DU!

was terrified of water spout at Lake Tahoe once...yikes!

[cbayer]

30. Thanks!

have been a silent observer for many years and finally decided to join in.

[CreekDog]

23. A tornado hit South S.F. two years ago

It can happen, pretty scary too.

[doodadem]

25. For a preview of weather to come....

Go watch the movie, "Day After Tomorrow" again.

[AngryAmish]

26. Way to go, Bush!

[truebrit71]

27. Ummm...isn't this how "Day after tomorrow" began....????

:eek:

[gasperc]

28. and Gore just said "Climate change significantly worse"

we could lose the polar ice cap in 5 years, damn

[lonestarnot]

29. both of them is what I read.

[kestrel91316]

32. We have been having some pretty heavy rain the past two days.

The BIG storm is gonna hit tomorrow afternoon/evening.

Soils are pretty much saturated. This is when it gets dangerous in the slide-prone areas. I wouldn't want to drive up the coast past La Conchita this weekend. 10 people died there in 2005.