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 w...

Photo from Grant County Sheriff, Michael Rath The tiny town of Whitman, Nebraska is in ruins today after being struck by a tornado yesterday evening. Incredibly, the National Weather Service did not issue a tornado warning until after the town was destroyed, in spite of storm chasers and others calling to tell them a tornado was in progress.   Damage photos by Jeremy Holthus While there were earlier radar indications to issue a tornado warning, the radar clearly showed a tornado threat at 7:33pm MDT (all times Mountain).  Per the Sheriff's press release, it appears the tornado touched down about 7:30pm.  A ddition -please see the comment at the bottom of this piece.  At 7:41pm, a distinct hook echo (circled) formed on a rotating supercell that was moving south southeast. Had I been working the warning desk at WeatherData, Inc., unquestionably I would have issued a warning at this point, regardless of whether I had yet heard from chasers in the field. The radar map do...