San Francisco, CA
Tornado: Why did San Francisco get a warning, but not Scotts Valley?
On Saturday, as a powerful winter storm headed toward the Bay Area, San Francisco residents received a tornado warning from the National Weather Service. But no tornado touched down. Yet 50 miles to the south, Scotts Valley, in Santa Cruz County, didn’t receive a tornado warning and a tornado did hit the community, flipping seven cars, breaking trees and causing five injuries.
What happened?
Despite computer models, radar systems and modern satellites, the event highlighted how predicting the precise location of extreme weather events still can be difficult, experts said Monday.
Officials from the National Weather Service said conditions in San Francisco and Santa Cruz County were very similar Saturday. The storms came from the same system. Radar images showed similar patterns. And the winds turned out to be similar — with gusts to 80 mph toppling trees at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and the tornado in Scotts Valley later in the day reaching 90 mph.
The tornado never touched down in San Francisco. But the conditions in the atmosphere with wind speed and direction were right, said Brian Garcia, warning coordination meteorologist for National Weather Service in the Bay Area.
“San Francisco got lucky,” he said.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for San Francisco at 5:51 a.m. Saturday, the first in its history.
Tornadoes are rare but not unheard of in California. Since 1950, there have been 482, according to federal records. The Central Valley receives more than other areas. The Bay Area’s most recent was in 2016, when a waterspout appeared during a storm over Lake Berryessa in Napa County. The East Bay had one in Brentwood in 2010. Gilroy had one in 2007.
Santa Cruz County has had 7 in the past 75 years: The most recent occurred Jan. 6, 2019, when one tore much of the roof off the Dolphin Restaurant at the end of the Santa Cruz Wharf before dissipating. Often they form just a few miles offshore as waterspouts, giving little warning.
“These things have very short life spans,” said Jan Null, a meteorologist with Golden Gate Weather Services in Half Moon Bay. “It’s not like you can track it for hours. That makes them very tough to warn people about.”
Tornadoes are less likely to occur in mountainous areas like Santa Cruz County, than in flat areas, because mountains often break up the swirling wind patterns. Given that, and seeing no tornado touch down in San Francisco, Garcia said, the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Scotts Valley and much of Santa Cruz County instead of a tornado warning at 1:25 p.m. as the storm’s impacts moved south.
“A severe thunderstorm warning and a tornado warning both have similar calls to action,” he said. “Seek shelter immediately. Severe thunderstorms can have winds as strong as tornadoes. The difference is they are in a straight line rather than spinning.”
Another difference is the type of notification the public receives.
Under federal rules established in 2012, the National Weather Service sends alerts to cell phones of people living in the affected area when there are tornado warnings, along with other threats like hurricanes or tsunamis.
But in 2021 after getting complaints of too many cell phone alerts from residents in the Midwest where such storms are more common, the agency decided to only send them for the most extreme types of severe thunderstorms. There are three levels, and the agency’s meteorologists determined that Saturday’s storm looked like the lowest of the three.
As a result, 1 million people in San Francisco had an alert from the federal Weather Emergency Alert service buzz their phones Saturday morning. Nobody in Scotts Valley did, although some people reported phone warnings which likely came from weather apps and other programs.
“We had a front-row seat,” said Denise Fritsch, a saleswoman at Home by Zinnia’s decor store on Mount Hermon Road next to Target, where the damage was worst. “Our doors were sucked open, then slammed shut really quick. The wreaths went sailing.”
A few blocks away, the funnel cloud hit her husband’s car, breaking a window, mirror and tail light but leaving him unhurt, Fritsch said.
“If anybody knew it was coming they should’ve warned us,” she said, “but I don’t know if anyone knew what was coming.”
Bellina Jones, 21, a shift lead at The Penny Ice Creamery nearby, got wind warnings on her phone. She was in the back of the shop washing a blender and came to the front as a customer said, “Tornado, get down!” Jones said she would have liked to receive a tornado warning on her phone, but noted the incident was very unusual.
“I get why nobody would think to do that here,” she added.
Power was back on Sunday, and by late Monday all 15 traffic lights that had been blown down were expected to be back up, said Scotts Valley Vice Mayor Derek Timm. The main damage was to Scotts Valley Middle School where a fallen tree wrecked several classrooms, he said.
“There’s still branches down, trees snapped off and ripped apart,” he said. “But our businesses have reopened. Some lost thousands of dollars. It’s the holiday season. It would be wonderful if the greater community could help them out.”
The Scotts Valley tornado was relatively small. It was just 30 yards wide and lasted 5 minutes, from 1:39 p.m. to 1:44 p.m, according to the National Weather Service preliminary report. On a scale of 0 to 5, it was a 1.
But Garcia of the National Weather Service said he and other agency officials will evaluate to see if there’s anything they should do differently in the future. The agency might want to consider increasing phone alerts for severe thunderstorms in California, said Null, of Golden Gate Weather Services.
“You have to pull the trigger sometimes not knowing if it is going to verify,” Null said, citing the tsunami warning two weeks ago after a major earthquake 40 miles off the Humboldt County coast. “You can quibble about the details after the fact. But it’s a much better mode of operation to be safe than sorry.”
Bay Area News Group reporter Nollyanne Delacruz contributed to this story.
Originally Published:
One of San Francisco’s busiest freeways remained shut down Saturday, creating major traffic delays and dampening business for some local restaurants and shops.
All eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 just before the Bay Bridge are closed as crews work around the clock to rehabilitate the roadway. The 55-hour shutdown, which began on Friday night, is scheduled to last until Monday morning in time for the commute.
The closure has forced drivers onto detour routes, leading to heavy congestion for those trying to reach the East Bay, including Oakland and Berkeley.
The impact is being felt beyond the roadways.
At MoMo’s, a restaurant across from Oracle Park, staff found business noticeably slower.
“A little bit more mellow than usual. We usually see a little bit more foot traffic, a little bit more people on Saturdays,” said Daniel Bermudez, executive chef at MoMo’s.
Bermudez believes the freeway closure may be discouraging visitors from coming into the city this weekend, despite favorable weather.
“The weather is beautiful today. It’s nice and sunny. So we have plenty of tables outside,” he said.
With the San Francisco Giants playing an away game, the restaurant had hoped fans would still gather to watch, but turnout during game time remained light.
“This is kind of like our off-season Saturday. A lot slower than our baseball weekend,” said Casandra Alarcon, general manager at MoMo’s.
Other small businesses in the Mission Bay and South of Market neighborhoods reported similar trends, saying most of their customers are regulars who live nearby rather than visitors.
“A little bit slower for sure. Before, we had tourists come and walk to the baseball park,” said Ajaree Safron, manager at Brickhouse Cafe & Bar.
Caltrans has shut down eastbound lanes between 17th and 4th streets to repave the 71-year-old roadway. The goal is to extend the life of the Bayshore Freeway by another decade.
City and transportation officials said the timing of the closure was intentional, noting fewer major events scheduled in San Francisco this weekend, aside from the Cherry Blossom Festival.
Westbound lanes remain open, and officials said traffic heading into San Francisco from the East Bay has not been significantly affected.
“Getting into the city, it wasn’t too bad. Regular [traffic], what we expect on a Saturday morning,” said visitor Andrea Inouye.
While the closure has posed challenges for businesses, some workers said they are taking it in stride.
“Hopefully, it’s not for too long and we get past it, and get back to our normal routine,” Bermudez said.
Despite early concerns about widespread gridlock, transportation officials said the region has avoided the worst-case scenario. Traffic remains heavy in areas near detours, but the anticipated “carmageddon” has not materialized, in part because many drivers chose to avoid the area or take public transit.
Bay Area High School baseball fans are treated to a rare opportunity Saturday (April 18) with three games at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, including the famed Bruce-Mahoney clash between West Catholic Athletic League rivals St. Ignatius and Sacred Heart Cathedral.
The first pitch of the 20th annual Dante Benedetti Baseball Classic starts at 11 a.m. and pits two more San Francisco private schools as University (9-7), winners of four straight, taking on Riordan (5-11).
That will be followed by the Bruce-Mahoney game at 2:30 between St. Ignatius (12-5, 4-2 WCAL) and the Irish (7-10, 1-5) and finished off with a North Coast Section clash between North Bay’s Marin Catholic (9-7) against Acalanes (7-6-1).
The Benedetti Classic, founded by Dante’s Boys Foundation board member Tom Lounibos and Giants president Larry Baer, benefits the DBF which honors the spirit of Benedetti who for nearly 40 years owned San Francisco’s Mr. Baseball nickname for his kindness and generosity to baseball-playing youth in the area.
Among their philanthropic efforts are glove and baseball equipment drives, field renovations and contributions to scholarships and sponsorships.
After starting the season 0-4 — three of those losses were by one run — University, under head coach Andrew Suvunnachuen, has found its way, winning the last four, all in Bay Counties League play, by a combined 51-6 count over Lick-Wilmerding (16-1 and 11-3) and San Domenico (13-2 and 11-0).
Senior catcher and pitcher Jett Messenger leads the way with a .447 average, while getting on base at a .638 rate. He also leads the team with 20 stolen bases. Junior third baseman Tate Gebhart is hitting .419, while Leo Felder and Behbart share the RBI lead with 15 each.
Junior Matthew Foley is 3-2 on the mound with a 2.38 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 17.2 innings.
Riordan, under second-year head coach Craig Sargent, was 5-5 in nonleague games but lost six straight in the rugged WCAL, losing two tough games this week to Mitty (3-2 and 7-4). Junior third baseman and pitcher Santiono Williams leads the team in batting average (.371), on-base percentage (.488) and stolen bases (nine). He’s also been the team’s top pitcher at 4-2 with a 2.84 ERA.
The teams have split two previous games in their history, with Riordan winning 2-0 in 2023 and University prevailing 5-0 in 2021.
St. Ignatius, led by ninth-year head coach Brian Pollzzie, has already secured the Bruce-Mahoney trophy with four straight wins — one each in football, girls volleyball, boys basketball and girls basketball — but this rivalry is always spirited.
The Wildcats, who are ranked fourth in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Chronicle, are coming off a tough 3-0 home loss to No. 2 St. Francis on Friday after beating the host Lancers 10-6 on Tuesday.
The team is led by Stanford-bound Archer Horn, who is hitting .486 with four home runs and a .604 on-base percentage. The shortstop and pitcher also has not allowed an earned run in three pitching appearances while registering one save.
Pitching is a team’s strength with a 2.59 ERA, led by a brigade of strong arms including Leo Rhein (2-0, 2.38), Tycco Giometti (2-1, 2.62), Charlie Stecher 1-1, 0.72) and Chase Gordon (1-0, 2.80). The team is missing standout Finn Demuth, out of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Sacred Heart Cathedral, led by fourth-year head coach Gregg Franceschi, has scored 60 runs on the season and given up 61. The Irish are coming off two losses to eighth-ranked Valley Christian (5-2 and 10-1).
They are led offensively by junior outfielder Brody O’Sullivan (.381) and senior infielder Jacob Vines (.378). Johnny Nepomuceno and Max Nylander are other run-producers. Zach Stallworth (37 strikeouts, 29.2 innings) and Cooper Rogers Lewis (0.25 ERA) have been the team’s top pitchers.
The series has been remarkably close since 2005 with Sacred Heart Cathedral holding a 27-20 edge, though St. Ignatius won both games last season (5-0 and 6-3) after the Irish won 9-7 and 1-0 in 2024.
Marin Catholic hopes to get back to winning after starting the season 9-1, but have since lost six straight, four in Marin County Athletic League play, including 4-2 to Novato on Thursday. Senior outfield Luke Martin is the team’s leading hitter at .478 while senior infielder and pitcher Cooper Mitchell is at .455. Senior infielder Walker Untermann leads the team with 15 RBIs.
Acalanes is at the other end of the spectrum, winners of five of six after a 2-5-1 start. Junior infielder Tyler Winkles, also a highly recruited quarterback in football, leads the team with a .383 average and nine stolen bases. Riley Gates (2-3, 2.49 ERA, 30 strikeouts) is the team’s top pitcher.
The teams have played three times, all since 2022, with Marin Catholic owning a 2-1 lead. Acalanes won last year’s game 8-7.
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Chinatown fatal crash victim ID’d, safety measures proposed
The victim killed in Friday’s Chinatown crash was identified Monday by the medical examiner as Cutberto Zamora-Martinez, 49, of San Joaquin County. At a meeting on Monday, city officials said the cause of the crash is still under investigation.
SAN FRANCISCO – A 76-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and speeding following a crash in San Francisco’s Chinatown that killed a man working in the area.
Zhuo Ming Lu, 76, is accused in the March 27 crash that left 49-year-old Cutberto Zamora-Martinez, of San Joaquin County, dead.
Suspect was trying to park
What we know:
Authorities said Lu was attempting to park near Grant Avenue and Jackson Street when his vehicle jumped the sidewalk and crashed into the landmark New Lung Ting Café, also known as the Pork Chop House. The vehicle also struck two pedestrians, including Zamora-Martinez.
Zamora-Martinez died from his injuries.
He had been working in the area, according to a GoFundMe page. A San Francisco Police Department source close to the investigation told KTVU the victims were carpet installers arriving for work.
The fundraising page described Zamora-Martinez as a husband and father who was the sole provider for his family and “a humble man who wanted the best for his family.”
Before his arrest, Lu had been cooperating with investigators. Authorities have not confirmed what caused the crash.
Some residents questioned whether the driver’s age or a possible confusion between the brake and gas pedals may have been factors.
“Maybe if people hit a certain age, you got to get retested for your driver’s license is something I was thinking about,” said Keith Hong, who works next door to the crash site.
Another case involving an elderly driver
Big picture view:
In an unrelated case, Mary Fong Lau, 80, was sentenced to probation after killing a family of four, two parents and their young children. in March 2024. Authorities said Lau struck the victims as they waited at a Muni stop on their way to the zoo.
Lau pleaded no contest to four felony counts of vehicular manslaughter, and a judge accepted the plea. A Superior Court judge cited her age, remorse and lack of criminal history in the sentencing decision.
She was placed on probation for two years, banned from driving for three years and ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.
The Source: San Francisco Police Department, prior reporting
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