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.

San Francisco residents were woken up by a tornado warning early Saturday morning during a powerful storm system that battered the region with heavy rain and wind.

The National Weather Service is offering an explanation as to why a tornado warning wasn't issued for Scotts Valley as the EF1 tornado reached the grounds near a busy shopping center on Saturday. The initial survey from the NWS found the event lasted from 1:39 pm to 1:44 pm.