The EF0 tornado happened around 3:15 a.m. and lasted about two minutes with 85 miles per hour winds, officials said.
WATCH: Video captures howling winds as tornado hits Pico Rivera
New video shows moment tornado hits Pico Rivera neighborhood
The NWS sent a team of six meteorologists to survey the damage that spanned across four blocks near Glencannon Drive and Church Street, which included several toppled trees and downed power lines. No injuries were reported.
It happened as a storm brought heavy rain and winds across Southern California.
"This is a part of a larger Pacific storm system that brought significant rainfall and flooding impacts, as well as strong winds to a large portion of coastal California," meteorologist Ariel Cohen with the National Weather Service said during a press conference. "This activity did spawn what we have determined to be a tornado."
AIR7 was over the scene where at least a dozen uprooted trees were toppled over onto cars and front lawns, and debris strewn across the affected streets.
It doesn't appear there was any significant damage to homes, but shingles were ripped off of some roofs and some windows were blown out.
Still, the weather event rattled the community and woke many up from their sleep.
"I looked out the window and (there) was lightning and the wind was just swirling around. It was making a swishing sound, and then everybody in the house woke up," said resident Carole Macias, who added that the wind sounded different than winds during a typical storm.
Fellow resident Joe Leon said he initially thought it was an earthquake but quickly realized it was not.
How common are tornadoes in the Los Angeles area?
While they aren't exactly common in the greater L.A. area, the National Weather Service said they aren't rare either.
"They can happen here, they can happen anywhere in the country at any time," Cohen said. "...In this part of L.A., especially East. (and the) L.A. basin area, we do have a relative maximum in the frequency of tornadoes that effect the region."
"This is a localized area of enhanced frequencies of tornadoes that actually rival some parts of the midwestern United States," he said.
There have been several smaller tornadoes in L.A. County in the past 20 years.
In 2005, there was a small tornado at the Palmdale airport. Two years later, there was another EF0, this time in Lancaster.
In 2014, there was a small tornado in South Los Angeles, and a small tornado in Llano in 2021.
But in 2023, there were four small tornadoes: in Cerritos, Montebello, Compton and the Compton airport. The EF1 Montebello tornado ripped off the roof of a warehouse and damaged several other buildings.
EF-1 tornado rips the roofs off buildings in Montebello, 11 buildings red-tagged and 1 person hurt
In light of that, Cohen said the region should always be ready.