Remembering the May 24, 2019 Tornado-Like Storm that Brought Golf-Ball Sized Hail to NorCal

The Memorial Day weekend of 2019 was just getting started when the National Weather Service issued a rare tornado warning for Northern California. It was widely reported that the storm was going to wash-out the many people looking for outdoor recreation during the 3-day weekend, but we had no idea that a tornado was getting ready to slam NorCal with incredible cloud formations and golf-ball sized hail.

It was the night of Friday, May 24th, 2019, when the clouds began to build over Shasta County in an eery fashion. While the smart took shelter from the rare-May storm, some brave photographers headed outside to see the golf ball-sized hail and insane cloud cell that looked more like Mordor than NorCal.

The size of the hail was absolutely shocking:

Chunks of hail falling in north Redding. Some one and a half inches long! pic.twitter.com/ftCKOi3LTa

— Mike Chapman (@mikechapman_RS) May 25, 2019

Redding California summer wildfires and spring storms, truly Fire & Ice! pic.twitter.com/PzLipRJh06

— Rodney Page (@Renegade_Rodney) May 25, 2019

#Redding pic.twitter.com/rPrhHDy6wH

— Minnie (@ShastaMerch) May 25, 2019

Sandy Trent took this picture in Redding Friday evening. These are golf ball to egg sized hailstones, the biggest I've ever seen in the North State… definitely bigger than the October 5, 2011 Chico hailstorm. pic.twitter.com/zcDS6E75AR

— Kris Kuyper (@Weather1224) May 25, 2019

In the 24 hours following the storm, a wave of incredible photos and videos began to circulate the internet, showing every angle of the beautiful super cell cloud that formed over the area. Let’s take a look at some of the best from that night:

More incredible videos of last night's storm are pouring in! Here's one of lightning in the clouds submitted by Kris Kingsley.

See more of the best photos/videos of the storm: https://t.co/3ERuiat5k9 pic.twitter.com/bhY8LscJia

— Active NorCal (@ActiveNorCal) May 25, 2019

Just when our spring #cawx couldn’t get any more unusual- these clouds rolled through the #SacValley last night. Angela Walfoort photo from Cottonwood, Shasta County @sacbee_news @kcraFinan @MavensNotebook pic.twitter.com/OzSigkEcqL

— Sacramento Valley (@SacValleyCA) May 25, 2019

#TORNADO WARNING #SHASTA COUNTY: Warning until 9:16 pm. Take shelter if you are around I5 between Anderson and Redding.

Monica Leard took this picture of the cloud formation. @ABC10 #wxforce10 pic.twitter.com/wAJN2D65Ec

— Madison Wade (@madisoncwade) May 25, 2019

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This time-lapse was captured in the outskirts of Redding California. Where an unusual storm appeared. Northern California is known for its fires, but on Friday of May 24, 2019 there was a tornado warning as well as baseball sized hail falling from the sky. Mother Nature is amazing to witness, and sometimes it’s when we aren’t looking for her that she makes her grand entrance. . . . . . . #redding #reddingca #reddingcalifornia #northerncalifornia #northerncali #northerncal #landscapephotography #lamdscape #storms #nature #naturelovers #nature_good #landscape_love #tornado #tornadowarning #tornadohunters #timelapse #timelapsed #nature_brilliance #natures#californialandscape #landscape_love #storms #storm #stormy #clouds #cloudscapes

A post shared by Malachi Isome (@malachi_isome_photography) on May 26, 2019 at 8:44am PDT

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A week ago an F2 tornado ripped through my hometown at 5:30 in the morning and got relatively close to my parent's house. As we were talking I mentioned how I actually missed the severe weather that the south gets and talked about how boring most of the weather has been up here…. I even said "I don't think Redding has seen any tornadoes before." While we didn't get any tornadoes I found out that it is actually possible to get them here thanks to this gnarly supercell! I'm thankful everyone I know back home was safe, and that I got to capture this spectacular moment with Redding's most iconic feature, the Sundial Bridge.

A post shared by Matt Haynie (@matthayniephotography) on May 25, 2019 at 6:07pm PDT

It was a stormy night we’ll never forget. When many people had grand plans to spend their Memorial Day weekend in the great outdoors, Mother Nature had different plans. Here’s to one of the most iconic storms we’ve ever seen in NorCal.