Tornado touches down near Santa Cruz in Northern California, flipping cars and downing power lines

A tornado touched down in the Northern California town of Scotts Valley near Santa Cruz Saturday afternoon, flipping cars and knocking down power lines, according to authorities. Several people were hurt, fire officials said. 

The National Weather Service classified it as a weak EF1 tornado that touched down at 1:39 p.m. at the corner of Mount Hermon Drive and Lockewood Lane. An NWS preliminary damage survey report posted Saturday night indicated the tornado lasted five minutes and winds were estimated to have peaked at about 90 mph. 

It traveled southeast for more than a quarter mile and was 30 yards wide, according to the report. Most of the severe damage was seen along Mount Hermon Road.

Scotts Valley police initially posted an alert on social media advising residents to avoid the area following a multi-vehicle accident that had multiple power lines down and completely blocked the road in all directions.

Police later posted an update saying that witnesses reported it was not an accident “but rather a possible tornado” that touched down near the Target store at 270 Mount Hermon Drive “and threw multiple cars off the road.” 

The Scotts Valley Fire Protection District told CBS News that four to five people were hurt in the weather event, sustaining minor to moderate injuries. At least two of those people were transported to hospitals.

A Cal Fire spokesperson said a battalion chief was on duty when the tornado flipped over his vehicle. He’s expected to be OK.

Around 20 cars were believed to have been damaged, the fire district said. 

The National Weather Service had issued a severe thunderstorm warning in the area a short time before the tornado.

A later post on X by the Bay Area office of the National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado had occurred based on “video, photos, firsthand accounts, and radar signatures.” 

Scotts Valley is a small town about six miles north of Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz County and a short distance off of State Highway 17.    

The tornado was just the latest extreme wind event connected to the powerful storm that passed through Northern California overnight. The first-ever tornado warning in San Francisco was issued by the National Weather Service early Saturday morning shortly before 6 a.m., alarming residents with a cell phone alert that woke many people up, according to reports on social media.

While that tornado did not materialize, high winds were causing impacts across the region, including a city-wide power outage in the North Bay city of Novato and a full closure of Interstate 580 in both directions at the San Joaquin and Alameda county line after a multiple-vehicle collision involving a big rig due to high winds.