Funnel cloud spotted in Newman during rainstorm. How rare is the weather phenomenon?
A woman recorded what appeared to be a funnel cloud in Newman on Monday afternoon, a National Weather Service meteorologist confirmed.
Edulia Guzman spotted the rotating column of air at about 1:40 p.m., and the video she sent to The Bee shows it spinning in the sky as rain falls onto her car windshield.
Funnel clouds like the one in the video are not uncommon during wet weather, said meteorologist Katrina Hand of the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration defines funnel clouds as rotating columns of air that do not touch the ground, unlike tornadoes.
“It’s actually not that rare for this area, especially when we’ve been in such an active pattern of unsettled weather,” Hand said.
While it is difficult to tell from her review of the 10-second clip, Hand said it appears the funnel cloud briefly passed through the area. Past funnel cloud sightings in Stanislaus County include one in April 2016, when Waterford Police Services shot a video near the downtown area.
When a tornado touched down in Denair in November 2015, it damaged roofs and knocked down power lines. The National Weather Service classified the tornado as an EF1 with wind speeds of 86 to 111 mph, The Bee previously reported.
Guzman recorded the Newman funnel cloud amid a rainstorm Monday.
This story was originally published December 27, 2021 at 4:05 PM.
