Tornado Warning Contra Costa County
Tornado Warning Contra Costa County latest news updates :- Forecasters had predicted Saturday would offer the Bay Area a respite from the stormy week. Instead, it brought rain, nickel-sized hail and even a tornado warning.
The National Weather Service said at least one funnel cloud was spotted near Brentwood in eastern Contra Costa County around 1:10 p.m., prompting the agency to issue the warning of an imminent tornado touchdown. The threat eased by 2 p.m. and the warning expired.
“We had strong radar signals and we had reports of funnel clouds,” said Bob Benjamin, a weather service forecaster. “We don’t have proof or any eyewitnesses that can validate a tornado, but we do have validation of a funnel cloud, which is a tornado that hasn’t reached the ground.”
Although meteorologists received reports of downed power lines, Brentwood police and Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department dispatchers said they had no evidence of any damage.
Tornadoes are rare in California and almost unheard of in the Bay Area, but this was the second time in a week that the weather service issued a warning locally. Santa Clara County was put under a tornado warning Wednesday afternoon, but no twister materialized.
Saturday’s unexpectedly wild weather was caused by residual moisture from nearly a week of rain, combined with an upper area of instability, forecasters said.
“With a little bit of midday heating, we’ve had some cloudiness that supplied inclement and in some cases severe weather,” said meteorologist Dan Gudgel.
He said eastern Contra Costa got a dumping of hail around the time the tornado warning was in effect. More routine rain showers fell throughout the day in much of the Bay Area.
The weather service predicts increasing clouds today leading to a chance of rain, with heavier downpours likely Monday. Drier weather is in the forecast for midweek, possibly followed by more rain next weekend.
Tornado Warning Contra Costa County was first posted on January 24, 2010 at 8:21 pm.
