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.

For the first time in recorded history, downtown San Francisco was issued a tornado warning on Saturday as severe storm conditions swept through the city, prompting local authorities to warn residents of the rare threat.

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.