Even as winter pounds other parts of the country with snow, California experienced some devastating extreme weather of a different kind Saturday when a tornado wreaked havoc about 70 miles south of San Francisco.
The tornado touched down in Scotts Valley near a shopping mall and flipped several cars in addition to downing power lines and injuring multiple people.
Among the three people injure dwas a Cal Fire battalion chief, according to KSBW.
Tornadoes are a rarity in California with only 316 having actually touched down in the state between 1950 and 2004.
The Saturday Scotts Valley tornado was rated an EF1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. EF5s are the strongest possible.