While traveling through the Pinyon area, Daniel Huish takes a picture of a cold air funnel cloud Friday, Sept. 20. Anza Valley Outlook/Courtesy photo
Local Anza social media erupted with posts regarding a tornado/waterspout/landspout swirling above the hills near St. Hwy. 74 during a storm Friday, Sept. 20. However, none of the labels were correct, according to the National Weather Service, San Diego.
“We got quite a bit of reports of that funnel,” said a Weather Service representative. “This was actually a cold air funnel - they form behind cold fronts like we had today - and they are typically harmless. They don't usually show up on radar as they are high-based and have limited rotation on them.”
Cold air funnels form beneath showers or weak thunderstorms when the air aloft is especially cold, according to the NWS website. The funnels are most common in the fall
