SCOTT’S VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. – A rare tornado in Northern California caused significant damage Saturday as the spiraling vortex flipped cars, damaged homes and businesses and left thousands without power.

Photos and video from Santa Cruz County showed the city of Scotts Valley was hardest hit and holiday shoppers sought shelter as the storm moved across the region.

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In a video, a woman could be heard shouting: “Let’s go home, let’s go home” as debris rained down on the couple’s car on a major highway around 1:30 p.m. local time.

Local officials said several people were injured by the brief tornado, which was an EF-1 tornado with winds of 90 mph according to the Enhanced Fujita Scale, and damage was reportedly significant.

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Scotts Valley Police said some local roads remained closed throughout the evening and were expected to remain closed until at least Sunday morning.

This, police said, should allow damaged power lines and other equipment to be repaired and allow emergency crews to clear debris and other hazards from the roadway and surrounding areas.

This photo shows information about a tornado warning in San Francisco on Saturday, December 14, 2024.

(FOX Weather)

A few hours earlier, the first tornado warning was issued for San Francisco as a strong storm swept across the state.

Survey teams from the National Weather Service examined the damage left by the strong storm and estimated that linear wind speeds of about 80 miles per hour were responsible for the damage.

During the peak of the storm, PowerOutage.us reported more than 128,000 power outages in the Golden State, most of them south of the Bay Area and in the Sierra Nevada.

Improved Fujita scale.

(FOX Weather)

How rare are tornadoes in California?

According to a NOAA database, tornadoes are rare across much of the western United States

Since 1950, fewer than 500 tornadoes have been reported in California, resulting in injuries but no deaths.

According to the NWS office in Sacramento, an average of 11 cases occur each year, most commonly in the spring and fall.

The atmospheric river event that caused the recent series of severe weather is expected to ease on Sunday before another round of heavy rain reaches the coast on Monday and Tuesday.

Satellite of a strong storm system that hit the California coast on Saturday.

(NOAA)