ON the coast this year both where I live on the Greater SF Coastal Area we received a tornado Warning. Also, this year we received a tornado Warning while in Santa Barbara too. Then there was an actual tornado hitting in Scott's Valley in the mountains between Santa Cruz and San Jose here in California. However, I had not heard about the Tornado Warning in San Francisco until my daughter told me about it right now.
begin quote from:https://weather.com/news/weather/news/2024-12-15-california-san-francisco-experiences-first-tornado-warning
Weather News
San Francisco Gets Its First Tornado Warning As A Twister Hits Another California Town
By Sara Tonks and Renee Straker
December 16, 2024
At a Glance
- Severe storms caused damage across northern California on Saturday.
- The National Weather Service confirmed that an EF1 tornado touched down in Scotts Valley, CA, Saturday afternoon.
- A tornado warning was issued in San Francisco for the first time ever.
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Severe storms caused damage across northern California on Saturday, and for the first time in recorded history, the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a tornado warning for the city of San Francisco.
The warning went out just before 6 a.m. local time on Saturday, with about one million people warned to take shelter.
The warning ended at 6:15 a.m. as the storms moved northward into the San Francisco Bay, and damage in the tornado-warned area in San Francisco was ultimately determined by the NWS to be straight line wind damage, not a tornado.
San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management issued a statement about the tornado warning, noting that residents were "understandably anxious” to receive an alert so uncommon for the region.
(MORE: Back-To-Back Systems Bringing Rain To The East)
They also advised residents that in the event that San Francisco gets a future tornado warning, that people should seek shelter in an interior room away from windows on the lowest floor possible, acknowledging that few buildings in the city have basements.
San Francisco has actually had a confirmed tornado before in 2005, but it came without a tornado warning. So the first confirmed tornado happened without a tornado warning, while the city’s first tornado warning happened without a confirmed tornado.
The storms caused flooding in some parts of the city and in the wider region, winds gusts toppled trees and knocked out power to homes and businesses in places like Seaside, Livermore and Monterey, California.
Confirmed Tornado In Northern California
About an hour south of San Francisco a tornado touched down in the city of Scotts Valley later Saturday.
Preliminary damage assessments from the National Weather Service said the EF1 tornado had peak winds of 90 mph when it hit at 1:39 p.m. local time.
The tornado was only on the ground for 5 minutes, and it traveled a third of a mile and stretched 30 yards wide. In that short amount of time, it flipped multiple vehicles and tore down power lines.
The Scotts Valley Police Department told local media at least five people were injured, most of them were inside vehicles that were overturned. One of the injured was a battalion chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), according to a report from KSBW-TV.
The most severe damage was along Mount Hermon Road in the city’s retail district. The road was closed Saturday as officials assessed the damage and crews worked to restore power.
On Sunday morning, about 3,600 customers in the region remained without power, according to PowerOutage.us.
Captain Jayson Rutherford with the Scotts Valley Fire Department told KION News, “I’ve been here 27 years, and we’ve never had a tornado in my time here or anything remotely like this.” He added that it was very fortunate that “nobody lost their life.”
By Sunday afternoon, Scotts Valley Police announced that Mount Hermon Road was back open and they thanked PG&E crews for restoring power to the area.
Residents of California may have more experience with earthquakes than with tornadoes, but the state does experience approximately 11 tornadoes per year on average.
What's next for the region: Another storm system is expected to impact the West Coast early this week, and heavy rain is possible for coastal Washington, Oregon, and northern California.
The system will move inland by midweek, and there is not currently any threat of heavy rain or severe weather for the regions most affected by Saturday’s severe weather.
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