Tornado hit Pico Rivera overnight, knocking down trees and power lines, NWS confirms
PICO RIVERA, Calif. (KABC) -- A tornado hit a Pico Rivera neighborhood early Thursday morning, the National Weather Service has confirmed.
The EF0 tornado happened around 3:15 a.m. and lasted about two minutes with 85 miles per hour winds, officials said.
Video captures howling winds as 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 downtown power lines.
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," 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 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 tiles were ripped off of some roofs.
"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 tornados 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.
No injuries were reported. It
