A tornado struck northern California on Saturday afternoon, injuring at least four people, flipping several cars, and bringing down power lines, according to local authorities.
The tornado caused widespread damage in Scotts Valley, located around 89 kilometres south of San Francisco.
Scotts Valley Tornado | Several injured, significant damage caused — Update
The twister, part of a series of severe weather events sweeping across the US, lasted about five minutes, with wind speeds reaching 144 km/h. It was around 28 metres wide and travelled about 400 metres before dissipating.
As of Sunday, over 40,000 customers remained without power, with Monterey County being the worst affected. Two of the injured were hospitalised, though no life-threatening injuries were reported.
The tornado in Scotts Valley followed a week after San Francisco’s first-ever tsunami warning, issued due to a magnitude 7.0 earthquake off the northern coast. No injuries were reported from the tsunami warning incident.
Tornadoes are rare in San Francisco, with the city last experiencing a major one in 2005.
Elsewhere in the US, an ice storm in Iowa and Nebraska caused hazardous road conditions. A 57-year-old woman lost control of her pickup truck on an icy road near Arlington and collided with an oncoming vehicle, resulting in her death. Interstate 80, connecting Iowa and Nebraska, was temporarily shut down due to multiple accidents but has since reopened.
Meanwhile, upstate New York experienced heavy snowfall, with over 83 centimetres recorded near Orchard Park in Erie County. The Sierra Nevada mountains in Nevada reported up to 91 centimetres of snow, and areas around Lake Tahoe also saw significant snowfall. Winds reached 180 km/h at Mammoth Mountain resort in California.
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