Tornado touches down in Ventura, causes minor damage

VENTURA, Calif. (KABC) -- As a powerful winter storm swept through Southern California Christmas night, a tornado briefly touched down over Ventura Harbor, damaging trees and buildings, according to the National Weather Service.

The service had issued and then canceled tornado warnings for Santa Barbara and Orange counties. But the tornado that touched down near the Santa Clara River was not part of those warnings, and was only confirmed the next day, the service said.

The narrow EF0 tornado touched down near the river and moved less than a mile north-by-northwest across the harbor. It caused minor damage to trees, roof tiles and canopies.

An EF0 is the weakest measure on the tornado scale, described as a storm that would damage trees and the exteriors of buildings. More than a third of the tornadoes across the United States are classified as EF0. A tornado of that intensity typically can produce wind gusts in the range of 65-85 mph.