NWS confirms brief tornado touchdown southeast of Vina, California
A tornado briefly touched down in a remote grassland area of southeastern Tehama County, California, at 14:05 PDT (21:05 UTC) on April 12, 2026, about 6.4 km (4 miles) southeast of Vina. The touchdown lasted about 1 minute and caused no reported injuries or structural damage, according to NWS Sacramento.
Satellite image centered over Vina, California at 21:00 UTC on April 12, 2026 - about 5 minutes before reported tornado. Credit: NOAA/GOES-West, RAMMB/CIRA, The Watchers
A brief tornado touched down about 6.4 km (4 miles) southeast of Vina in rural Tehama County, California, at 14:05 PDT (21:05 UTC) on April 12. The tornado lasted about 1 minute and was preliminarily rated by the Meteorologists with the National Weather Service Sacramento as EF-U (unknown).
The office said radar showed a rotating storm cell over the area at the time of the touchdown. ALERTCalifornia PG&E webcam footage and public video also showed a tornado briefly on the ground in an unpopulated grassland area southeast of Vina.
The tornado occurred in a remote part of southeastern Tehama County, prompting NWS Sacramento to issue a Tornado Warning.
According to the weather service, no homes, outbuildings, or other structures were affected. Because there were no reported impacts and no visible damage in the available footage, NWS Sacramento meteorologists said it would not deploy a damage survey team to the area.
California averages about nine tornadoes each year, with most events weak and short-lived, and occurring in the Central Valley.
I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
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