A tornado touched down in San Joaquin County on Wednesday after a severe thunderstorm moved into the area."I heard a pop and then I heard crackling and I opened the window and I could see the whole shop just lifting, it was like a movie and I saw it just twisting and it exploded that way," said Abel Hernandez, who was inside a friend's farmhouse when the twister hit.
The National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado touched down
southwest of Stockton on West Howard Road sometime between 12:30 p.m.
and 1:00 p.m.National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Mathews said a site survey showed the winds in the twister had reached between 94 and 112 miles an hour, qualifying it as an F-1 tornado, capable of doing serious damage, and very rare in the San Joaquin Valley.
The tornado damaged a large equipment storage building and downed
power lines along Howard Road between Stark Road and South Roberts
Road, San Joaquin County sheriff's Deputy Les Garcia said.