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.

A potent winter storm targeting Northern California this weekend brought what appears to be the first official tornado warning on record for the city of San Francisco on Saturday morning.