Wild Weather Afternoon Sweeps Across Sacramento Region
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The National Weather Service is investigating the possibility of tornadoes after a series of funnel clouds were spotted across the Sacramento region on Wednesday.
The clouds were part of a spring storm that also brought waterspouts, hail and heavy rain to much of the valley and snow to the Sierra.
Viewers captured lightning and tree damage from an afternoon storm that was more than splash and dash.
"The rain and the hail hit in the middle of lunch and we didn't know what was going on," said Waterford resident Patrick Richards.
He captured a funnel cloud in Waterford that meteorologists are investigating to see if it touched down and became a tornado.
"You could see the debris flying up above the telephone poles. Just really fast… huge, violent circles," he said.
Video from CBS13 viewer Matt Allen shows what the NWS confirms was a water spout that touched down at Lake Berryessa.
Wednesday's storm came in fast and furious, leaving commuters to navigate through massive pools of rain along Power Inn Road, causing some to get stuck in the rising waters.
He got kind of caught up here," said Ricky Jordan with Sherman Loehr Custom Tile Works. "It was too high and he had to pull up over here and the fire department told him to stay there until they got it to subside a little bit."
The damage at Lucille Whitehead Intermediate School was tough to miss.
"We had a greenhouse that was picked up and thrown over a fence that impacted a classroom and then it was just shredded or put in a blender," said Erik Lee.
As fast as Mother Nature ushered in the powerful spring storm, signs of clearing quickly emerged, and temperatures are expected to push toward the 90s by the weekend.