• Rare tornadoes touched down in Riverside County, California on May 22, 2008.

    The storm system, which included rain, hail and snow, pounded Southern California turning over a tractor-trailer, derailing a freight train and causing a major interstate to be clogged for some eight miles.

    Power pole and palm tree fires and at least 20 weather-related traffic accidents were reported in Riverside County.

    In Orange County the storm slammed the eastern canyons, an area already damaged by wildfires in 2007.

    1. No deaths and minor injuries reported
    2. National Weather Service had issued tornado warning
    3. A few residents of Williams Canyon briefly stranded

  • California Tornado Statistics

    These statistics are taken from DisasterInfo.com and compare California tornadoes to the other United States. The statistics were compiled with tornado information from 1950 - 1995.

    1. #32 for frequency of tornadoes
    2. #36 for reported injuries
    3. #31 for cost damages
    4. No ranking for deaths
    5. Statistics are even lower when using per-square-mile comparison