NWS Misses an Obvious Tornado Warning in Northern California

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Updated: The tornado was rated EF-1 intensity. 

Earlier this afternoon, I happened to look at the San Francisco-area radar (it was still on that radar from this morning) and I was shocked to see what appeared to be an obvious tornado situation without a tornado warning in Santa Cruz County. 

So, I put out a warning notification for my readers as quickly as I could at 1:41pm PST:
Per the NWS, the tornado began at 3:40pm. 

Here's what actually occurred:
There is video of the impressive tornado, here. 

I have enhanced the image of the destructive tornado:
Note the palm trees leaning into the tornado's circulation. 

It is astonishing an advance tornado warning was not issued by the SFO National Weather Service office. 

Below is the radar at 1:24pm PST:
While the rotation is weak, the hole and the lofted debris makes this an obvious warning. 

3:36pm radar...
That is an impressive hole on the left with moderate rotation colocated with the hole. 

This was a pretty clear tornado warning situation. The National Weather Service has failed to warn of straightforward tornado situations from New York to California in 2024. The only way this is going to improve is if Congress creates the proposed National Disaster Review Board modeled after the hugely successful National Transportation Safety Board. 

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