San Francisco expects more rain after a stormy weekend, including the city’s first tornado warning and widespread power outages.
The Bay Area is bracing for more rain after a weekend of extreme weather that included San Francisco’s first-ever tornado warning and widespread power outages.
The National Weather Service (NWS) predicts lighter rain on Monday, with sunny weather expected from Tuesday through Thursday. However, heavier rainfall is set to return on Friday, continuing through the weekend. Saturday is forecasted to be the rainiest day, with a 70% chance of showers in San Francisco.
This past weekend’s storm knocked out power to over 170,000 PG&E customers, primarily affecting areas near Golden Gate Park and Bernal Heights. The atmospheric river that swept through the region caused strong winds, downed trees, and scattered property damage.
San Francisco’s first tornado warning arrived early Saturday morning, alerting residents at 5:52 am. Though the warning was lifted at 6:15 am, the high winds left behind noticeable damage. No tornado touched down in the city, but nearby Scotts Valley in Santa Cruz County wasn’t as lucky.
At 1:39 pm on Saturday, a tornado hit Scotts Valley, flipping cars and injuring five people. The NWS classified it as a weak EF-1 tornado, with wind speeds reaching 90 mph. The tornado traveled along Mount Hermon Road for five minutes, causing localized damage near a Target store.
Tornadoes are rare along California’s coast but do occur, with the state averaging about 11 tornadoes annually, typically in the northern Central Valley.
As Bay Area residents recover from the storm’s impact, more rain is just around the corner, keeping local officials and communities on alert.
