California
Rare California tornado injured 5, flipped vehicles in city north of Santa Cruz
Tornado alley it’s not, but a section of California was hit Saturday with a rare tornado that has been blamed for injuring five and flipping vehicles as a storm moved across the state.
A tornado in Scotts Valley, a small city about 6 miles north of Santa Cruz “threw multiple cars off the road,” the city police department said on Facebook, where it posted images of overturned vehicles.
Police Capt. Scott Garner said five people, most in vehicles that were tossed or moved by the tornado, suffered injuries, but none of them were major. Three were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries while two refused treatment at the scene, he said.
Photos shared by the Scotts Valley Police Department showed cars strewn about on and around Mount Hermon Road, the city’s main street and retail district, where the tornado touched down in the afternoon.
Officers responding to the scene were called to reports of a multi-vehicle collision, but were astonished to see instead the aftermath of a tornado, including bent utility poles and extensive property damage, Garner said.
“You can imagine officers responding finding telephone poles at angles,” he said. “They stumbled into that.”
The National Weather Service issued a local storm report that confirmed a touchdown in Scotts Valley at 1:40 p.m. It does not estimate the tornado’s strength, a task completed in person when it’s safe to do so.
California averages only about 11 tornadoes each year, with the northern Central Valley being the part of the state most likely to see one, according to the weather service.
Earlier Saturday, the weather service had issued a tornado warning for San Francisco shortly before 6 a.m., but it was canceled after no tornado organized in the area.
The warning was the first for San Francisco city and county at least since the inception of reliable weather records in 1950, said Nicole Sarment, a weather service meteorologist in the Bay Area.
In Scotts Valley, the area of Mount Hermon Road was expected to remain closed at least through Sunday morning as authorities assess damage and Pacific Gas & Electric repairs infrastructure and restores electricity, police said in a series of statements on Facebook.
On Saturday evening, more than 8,800 utility customers in Santa Cruz County were in the dark, according to utility tracker PowerOutage.us.
The tornado formed amid a potent Pacific storm that helped to transport an atmospheric river over the northern half of the state, with a “cold frontal rain band” bringing up the rear Saturday, forecasters with the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes said in a statement.
In the small city of Mill Valley, about 14 miles north of San Francisco, police said floodwaters stranded several vehicles. In Novato, about 28 miles north of San Francisco, there was a citywide power outage amid storm-felled utility polls and power lines, the city said on social media platform X. It urged residents to “stay home.”
The center rated the atmospheric river at moderate to strong, or AR2 to AR3 on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the strongest.
The weather service office in Monterey blamed “a rather potent frontal passage” for the unsettled weather associated with the tail end of the atmospheric river, which included hail, ripping winds, and nearly 2 inches of rain in places, along with snow inland.
The weather service office in Reno, Nevada, forecast as much as 20 inches of snow in the Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Lakes areas of California between Friday and Saturday.
For the Bay Area, the forecast was for a night of freezing temperatures, bottoming out near 30 degrees, followed by “sunny skies” on Sunday, the weather service said in its forecast discussion Saturday.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — The California Highway Patrol is urging drivers to stay focused on the road as they head out for Fourth of July celebrations.
The holiday weekend can be a dangerous time on our roads as millions of drivers are expected to travel.
CHP Officer Jorge Toro joined Eyewitness News Mornings to share how drivers can stay safe behind the wheel.
Officer Toro also highlighted the importance of sober driving over the holiday.
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He says anyone hosting a party should make sure all of their guests get home safely, ensuring anyone who may be impaired doesn’t drive.
California is returning a stretch of rugged Mendocino County coast to the Indigenous nations whose ancestors once stewarded its shores.
State transportation officials recently approved the transfer of Blues Beach and the surrounding bluffs to Kai Poma, a nonprofit founded by representatives of the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians, Round Valley Indian Tribes and Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians.
The transfer of 136 acres just south of the community of Westport will mark the first time land managed by the California Department of Transportation has been returned to Indigenous tribes.
“This is beyond huge,” said J. Carlos Rivera, tribal chairman of the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians. “It’s enormous from our tribal perspective that we are basically obtaining the land that our people once lived on before colonization.”
California purchased the swath of rocky cliffs and windswept shoreline in the 1960s to expand the construction of Highway 1 and create a scenic viewpoint for highway travelers, according to a California Coastal Commission report.
More recently, public access has been largely unregulated, and summer weekends and holidays have drawn large groups who camp and party on the beach, at times driving through sensitive areas, damaging cultural sites and leaving behind trash, the report states.
Kai Poma plans to conduct cultural and archaeological resource studies and environmental surveys and then prepare a resource management plan for the property, according to planning documents. The nonprofit and the Coastal Commission have drafted a public access management plan that states the land will be open from sunrise to sunset.
Rivera described the entire property as a sacred site. The coastal waters are used by tribal people for seaweed and abalone gathering, and the shores host youth cultural camps, he said. “Protecting the land, it has a deeper meaning for us because we’re connected to the land,” he said.
The effort to acquire the land took years — and required a change in state law. Caltrans lacked the ability to transfer land to tribal governments until 2021, when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill sponsored by state Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) that enabled the transfer, according to a news release issued at the time. The law also bars commercial activity on the property and requires public access be maintained.
“With 136 acres now officially transferred into tribal stewardship, one of the most spectacular stretches of the Mendocino Coast will be forever protected,” McGuire said in a statement.
“This agreement, the first of its kind in California, gives these three dynamic Native American tribes the rightful opportunity to reclaim sacred lands and cultural traditions on this special piece of earth. And it’s about damn time.”
The land transfer cleared its last regulatory hurdle June 26 with the approval by the California Transportation Commission, said Neil Thapar, an attorney who works as an advisor and legal consultant to Kai Poma. Caltrans staff will next record the deed transferring the title from the state of California to Kai Poma, which is expected to happen any day, he said.
Fireworks Safety Guide
Essential safety tips for buying, handling, and watching fireworks to ensure a safe celebration.
With July 4 falling on a Saturday this year, many businesses and organizations are taking the day off Friday, July 3, to mark America’s 250th birthday. From banking to mail service, here’s what’s open and closed for the holiday weekend.
Most federal offices closed, mail service to continue
Non-essential federal offices will be closed on July 3. However, mail service will continue as normal, and post offices are scheduled to remain open.
Most California government offices to remain open
Most California government offices will be open on July 3, with some exceptions.
DMV offices throughout the state will be open. However, the Employment Development Department will be closed.
DMV offices that offer Saturday hours will be closed on July 4.
Private parcel services to remain open
UPS and FedEx are both scheduled to operate normally on July 3, but will suspend service on July 4.
Stock markets closed
Both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq will be closed on July 3.
Most banks to stay open
While most banks were expected to operate normally on July 3, some may operate under modified holiday hours. All banks will be closed on July 4.
Online banking services should remain operational.
Grocery stores
Most major grocery chains will be open on both July 3 and July 4. Trader Joe’s locations will be open for regular business on July 3 but will close early at 5 p.m. on the Fourth of July.
Retailers
Many major retail stores, such as Walmart and Target, plan to operate under normal business hours on both July 3 and 4. All Costco warehouse stores operate under normal business hours on July 3, but will close on July 4.
Restaurants
Most major restaurant chains remain open on July 4, but some will have limited hours. All Raising Cane’s locations will close on July 4.
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