Last Saturday morning on Dec. 14, members of California’s Bay Area awoke abruptly at 5:51 a.m. to the blaring alarm of a Tornado Warning. The primary instruction given by the National Weather Service was to take cover in a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building, soon followed by other additional details surrounding media and the outdoors. 

“The tornado on Saturday was really scary,”sophomore Annabelle Carr said. “I hadn’t expected it at all and I haven’t experienced one before, so I was really surprised,”

According to the National Weather Service, a cyclonic build of a storm alerted their radar with rotation signature so high, it prompted the warning. Bay Area families were sent into shock, as this was San Francisco’s first ever tornado warning that reached downtown San Francisco. In weeks prior to this alert, students and faculty carried out“Safety Week”, where students practiced what to do when in danger through a series of drills, according to English faculty Susan Wilson.

“I really enjoyed leading my English class in safety week,” Wilson said. “I think it is important to practice these drills, so our school community will know what to do in case of an emergency,”

Finally, the threat of the tornado was disbanded at around 6:14 a.m., marking the end of a fear-inducing 23 minutes. While winds reaching 80 miles per hour were recorded in Golden Gate Park, along with other locations in San Francisco; no tornado was actually present. 

“I was confused by the tornado warning on Saturday,” said junior Nina Swain. “There was a tsunami warning about a week before though, so it seemed kind of fitting.”

 About a week before the Tornado Warning, San Francisco also fell prey to the National Weather Service’s issued Tsunami Warning. On Thursday Dec. 5 at 10:49 a.m., a Tsunami Warning was issued to the Convent and Stuart Hall community, before being cancelled 70 minutes later. Although there was no tsunami, there was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Northern California that prompted the tsunami warning and could have potentially prompted a tsunami. 

 “The tsunami warning was even more frightening because I was at school,”Carr said. “Thankfully, our school did Safety Week prior to this, and we live in hilly San Francisco!”