• The National Weather Service confirms a weak, but damaging, tornado early Thursday in a Pico Rivera neighborhood.
• Strong winds and steady rain pounded Los Angeles overnight as a fast-moving storm moved through the region.
• At least one tree was down on a home in the community southeast of downtown Los Angeles, where damage stretched for about four blocks.
• Tornados are unusual in California and they’re usually weak, but can still cause damage.

A weak tornado with winds estimated at about 85 mph left a path of damage that extended for blocks in a Pico Rivera neighborhood early Thursday as a late winter storm brought rain and strong winds to Los Angeles County.

The tornado, estimated at EF 0 and lasting for about two minutes, was reported at about 3:15 a.m. near the community southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The National Weather Service sent a survey team to confirm the reports of a tornado in the El Rancho neighborhood.

Ariel Cohen of the National Weather Service discusses reports of a possible tornado in Pico Rivera. Video broadcast Thursday March 13, 2025 on Today in LA. 

The team looked at the damage pattern, which covered several blocks and included downed trees and power lines, to determine whether a tornado touched down and its strength on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, used to assign a tornado rating between 0 and 5 based on estimated wind speeds and damage. An EF rating of 0 indicates wind speeds of 65 to 85 mph. An EF 5 indicates speeds over 200 mph.

“We’d been talking about the potential for tornados in this area for days in advance,” said Ariel Cohen, of the National Weather Service. “We had a line of intense showers that reformed over central and southern Los Angeles County. This activity exhibited some weak rotation with it.”

Daylight revealed pocket of damage in the neighborhood, including a large tree down near Church and Underwood streets. Juan Valencia said he was sleeping when he heard the tree fall outside his family’s home.

“I woke up to a big boom,” said Valencia, who said the tree fell on his family’s car, crumpling the hood and damaging the windshield.

One tree was ripped from the ground and leaning on the roof of a house. Another tree appeared to have split at the trunk.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The brunt of the storm arrived overnight, bringing steady rain and windy conditions to Los Angeles County. The increased rainfall rates also raised the threat of slides and debris flows, leading to evacuation warnings in several LA County burn zones, including neighborhoods near the Palisades and Eaton fires.

The storm will move east Thursday, but LA County can expect showers and the possibility of thunderstorms throughout the day.

We are hearing reports of a possible tornado around 315 am this morning near Pico Rivera. @NWSLosAngeles will be sending a storm survey team later this morning to survey the damage that took place. #CAWX

— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) March 13, 2025

Tornadoes are unusual in California and they’re usually weak, but can still cause damage.

In February, the NWS confirmed that a rare tornado formed in the Ventura County community of Oxnard. The weak tornado caused damage in a mobile home park.

In March 2023, the roof of a Montebello business was ripped off and more than a dozen other buildings were damaged by a tornado in Montebello.

In March 1983, a storm system off the coast of California unleashed a terrifying weather oddity south of downtown Los Angeles. A tornado packing winds between 113 and 157 mph destroyed homes and businesses, flipped cars, hurled debris and ripped part of the roof from the LA Convention Center.

“There is a local maximum of tornado frequencies across the LA basin, especially areas between Downey, Montebello, Compton, Carson areas, East Los Angeles,” Cohen said. “That entire area has a very localized, meteorologically prime set of ingredients that can support the development of weak small tornados. We actually have seen them occur with actual frequencies that rival some portions of the Midwest.

“It’s certainly something that these folks should be prepared for as storms move through.”