Storms in the United States cause heavy snow, dangerous ice and a tornado in California

A tornado near a shopping center in central California lifted cars, uprooted trees and sent several people to the hospital. In San Francisco, authorities issued the first tornado warning in the city’s history.

Bad weather affected several areas of the United States over the weekend with dangerous conditions that included heavy snowfall in upstate New York, a major ice storm in the north central states and severe weather warnings around Lake Tahoe.

The ice storm that began Friday night created dangerous driving conditions in Iowa and eastern Nebraska from Friday through Saturday and led to temporary closures of Interstate 80 after numerous cars and trucks ran off the road. In upstate New York, more than 33 inches (84 centimeters) of snow was reported near Orchard Park, where lake-effect snowfalls typically occur.

A tornado touched down Saturday near a shopping center in Scotts Valley, California, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of San Francisco, around 1:40 p.m. The swirl overturned cars and toppled trees and utility poles, the National Weather Service said. Several people were injured and taken to hospitals, according to Scotts Valley Police.

Some trees fell onto cars and streets and damaged roofs in San Francisco. The damage was being assessed to determine if the city had actually been hit by a tornado, which had not happened since 2005, according to the weather service.

Roger Gass of the weather service in Monterey, California, said the possible tornado warning in San Francisco was the first for the city, noting that before the previous tornado, registered almost 20 years agono advanced alert was issued.

The fast-moving storm prompted warnings for people to seek shelter, but few people have basements in the area.

“The most important thing we tell people in the city is “Put as many walls between you and the outside world as possible.”said meteorologist Dalton Behringer.

At some Lake Tahoe ski resorts More than 30 centimeters of snow fell and in the Mammoth Mountain resort, south of Yosemite National Park, a wind gust of 181 kilometers per hour was recorded according to the weather service office in Reno, Nevada. Up to 91 centimeters of snow were expected for the tops of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

An 80-mile (130-kilometer) stretch of Interstate 80 was closed Saturday from Applegate, California, to the Nevada line just west of Reno. The California Highway Patrol reopened the highway in the afternoon to passenger vehicles with chains or four-wheel drive and snow tires.

Bad weather in the north central part of the country resulted in at least one death. Police in Washington County, Nebraska, said a 57-year-old woman died after losing control of her pickup truck on the highway and crashing into an oncoming truck. The other driver suffered minor injuries.