Several people in San Luis Obispo and Arroyo Grande reported seeing a funnel cloud Tuesday afternoon.
KSBY Chief Meteorologist Dave Hovde suspected we were looking at a “cold air funnel” and sent photos to the National Weather Service. Meteorologist Mike Wofford looked at the photos and confirmed what the photos show is a cold air funnel.
Dan Shinn sent these pics of the SLO funnel cloud this afternoon near the airport to me and used #BeOnKSBY. Thank you, Dan!! pic.twitter.com/LZRuLHcOjQ
— Dave Hovde (@tvdave) February 7, 2024
A cold air funnel is a funnel cloud or a small tornado that can form from a thunderstorm or small shower. Cold air funnels are usually harmless but can cause EF-0 level tornadoes, which can produce winds of up to 85 mph, on rare occasions.
Cold air funnels are very small and are typically not picked up by Doppler radar.
You might be asking: What is the difference between a funnel cloud and a tornado? Crucially, a funnel cloud does not reach the earth's surface. At the point it reaches land, it becomes a tornado, or if it reaches a body of water, it becomes a waterspout.
Dustin Harrington messaged me this video on Facebook of the cold air funnel in AG around 1pm this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/shgdI7sZxd
— Dave Hovde (@tvdave) February 7, 2024
The San Luis Obispo funnel may not have been the only one in the area this afternoon. This piece of video was taken by Dustin Harrington at 1 PM in Arroyo Grande. Dustin says the funnel extended from the cloud for about 25 seconds before it disappeared.
The National Weather Service on Tuesday issued a rare tornado warning for parts of Southern California. The warning included inland San Diego County. It did not include San Luis Obispo County.
