California experienced its first tornado of 2025, which touched down on Friday evening in an unpopulated area of Tehama County, according to the National Weather Service. The brief tornado was observed about eight miles northeast of Dairyville, lasting from approximately 5:18 p.m. to 5:21 p.m. Fortunately, no damage or injuries were reported as the whirlwind traveled about 0.8 miles. Meteorologist Courtney Carpenter confirmed that all evidence, including radar data, was evaluated in coordination with the Tehama County Sheriff and Office of Emergency Services. Since there was no damage, no survey team will be sent to the area.
How strong was it?
The tornado’s wind peak and rating are both unknown, the news release said.
“The preliminary determination is that this was an EF-U (unknown) tornado that touched down for approximately 3 minutes with a path length of approximately 0.8 miles and unknown peak wind,” Carpenter said.
An EF-U rating indicates that a tornado is given a rating of unknown strength, the weather agency said.
“This is because tornadoes are rated based on the damage that they cause,” Carpenter said in the news release. “If no damage is caused by a tornado, then it cannot be assigned a rating, and the rating of EF-U is used. This is the preliminary rating. If additional damage reports are received, further evaluation will take place.”
What was detected on radar? Was there a tornado warning?
The weather service issued a tornado warning at 5:22 p.m., the news release said.
“The radar at the time indicated a storm cell with weak rotation present,” Carpenter said in the news release. “This is not uncommon and the vast majority of weakly rotating storms do not produce a tornado.”
More details Monday morning on KSRO.
