The first tornado warning was issued for San Francisco County early Saturday as thunder and wind gusts of up to 80 mph battered the region, officials said.
“Shelter now in a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a solid building,” a National Weather Service advisory said on social media. Parts of San Mateo County are also included.
More than 1 million people were under the warning, which was issued at 5:51 a.m. and was lifted at 6:15 a.m., said Lamont Bain, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Bay Area.
The advisory was the first time the agency has issued a tornado warning for San Francisco County, he said. San Mateo County was last issued a tornado warning on March 18, 2011.
“It's not normal at all. We don't see the ingredients coming together every time there are hurricanes,” said Bain.
In addition to humidity, “you need a combination of lift, you need instability and you need wind shear. We saw all those things come together for a short time this morning. “
He said the tornado warning is “a good reminder that people always have multiple ways” to get weather information and warnings. That includes signing up for text alerts, checking news reports and turning on the weather radio.
Showers are forecast throughout the day in San Francisco, with gusts of 30 to 35 miles per hour at least during the day. The rain was expected to end on Saturday night, with a dry spell on Sunday before rain on Monday.
Power outages are widespread due to the storm that started on Friday. PG&E said wind gusts of 95 mph were recorded in Humboldt County Friday evening. San Francisco International Airport had gusts of 83 mph early Saturday.
PG&E said its crews were working to repair the damage and power had been restored to more than 95,000 people as of 10:45 a.m. Saturday.
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