AccuWeather Exclusively Provided Life-Saving Tornado Warning 16 Minutes BEFORE Damaging Tornado Struck Scotts Valley, California
The National Weather Service and All Other Known Sources NEVER Issued a Tornado Warning.
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A tornado touched down in Scotts Valley, California, on Saturday afternoon, causing damage and flipping over some cars. No injuries were reported.
AccuWeather customers and users were the best prepared for a damaging tornado with peak winds of 90 mph that struck Scotts Valley, California, on Saturday afternoon, December 14, 2024. The tornado injured three people and caused widespread damage, including downed trees, downed power lines and poles, numerous overturned vehicles, and damage to homes and businesses.
AccuWeather Expert Storm Warning Meteorologists issued a lifesaving SkyGuard® Tornado Warning which exclusively provided 16 minutes of advance notice BEFORE the tornado struck the community of Scotts Valley, California, while the government’s National Weather Service (NWS) and all other known sources NEVER issued a tornado warning. As has been the case with many other situations, AccuWeather was the ONLY known source to provide advance notice of the damaging tornado.
• As a result, people and businesses relying on NWS warnings directly or all other known weather sources that simply distribute NWS tornado warnings would not have had notice of the imminent life-threatening emergency before the tornado touched down. Government cell phone alerting (wireless emergency alerts) would not have been activated, outdoor sirens would not have been activated, and other emergency notifications from other agencies may not have been issued, as those notification methods depend upon National Weather Service warnings. Only those systems that are based on AccuWeather Warnings, which include National Weather Service warnings but also are supplemented by the expertise of AccuWeather's expert Storm Warning Meteorologists, would have been activated.
AccuWeather’s lifesaving warning benefited AccuWeather for Business SkyGuard® customers and customers of the AccuWeather Premium+ feature in the AccuWeather app. The valuable advance notice of 16 minutes, only provided by AccuWeather, enabled customers to be better prepared and offered more time for people to seek safe shelter ahead of the destructive tornado in Scotts Valley.
(Photo Credit: Scott's Valley Police Dept.)
This is another of the many weather events where AccuWeather provided superior forecasts and impact descriptions to people, communities, and businesses, helping them better prepare and stay safer.
More than 100 times every year, AccuWeather has been documented as providing more accurate, more advance notification of significant and extreme weather events that impact businesses and threaten the health, welfare, and lives of individuals. AccuWeather is proven to be the most accurate source of weather forecasts and warnings.
