Tornado touches down in Los Angeles County overnight, damaging Pico Rivera neighborhood with EF0-level winds
An EF0 tornado touched down in Los Angeles County early Thursday morning, causing damage to a Pico Rivera neighborhood, the National Weather Service said.
NWS meteorologist Ariel Cohen confirmed a tornado did impact the area around 3:15 a.m. and lasted about two minutes.
Preliminary information from weather officials said wind speeds during the tornado were about 85 mph and it was about a mile long. Nearby homes and vehicles were damaged during the incident.
The city of Pico Rivera released a statement about the incident and said there was an "extreme wind event" that caused trees to fall.
Officials said the neighborhoods impacted are by Loch Avon Drive, Holbrook Street, and Glencannon Drive, between Passons Boulevard and Pico Vista Road. Crews with public works are working to clear trees and debris from the streets while Southern California Edison is working to restore power to affected homes.
"The main message is that folks need to be ready, folks need to be prepared," Cohen said. "Be thinking about what you would do if a tornado were to strike."
No injuries were reported.
How are tornadoes categorized?
The Enhanced Fujita Scale is used to assign a tornado a rating based on the estimated wind speeds during the incident and the damage caused by it. The EF Scale became operational in 2007 and was revised from the original Fujita Scale, the NWS said.
When weather officials survey tornado-related damage, it is compared to the list of 28 Damage Indicators and Degrees of Damage. Those lists help officials estimate a range of wind speeds the tornado likely produced.
EF Rating | 3 Second Gust (mph) |
0 | 65-85 |
1 | 86-110 |
2 | 111-135 |
3 | 136-165 |
4 | 166-200 |
5 | Over 200 |
The EF Scale "uses three-second gusts estimated at the point of damage based on a judgment of 8 levels of damage to the 28 indicators," the NWS said.
The NWS is the only federal agency with the authority to confirm tornado EF Scale ratings.
Even though it is rare, the LA Basin has seen a few tornadoes in recent years. A few weeks ago in February, a mobile home park in Onxard suffered damage after a minor tornado touched down during a windstorm.
In 2023, an "intense microcell" touched down in Montebello, causing significant damage to nearby businesses. At the time of the incident, the NWS said it was the strongest tornado to hit the Los Angeles area since March 1983.
