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The National Weather Service confirmed that an EF1 tornado touched down in Los Angeles as another series of severe storms walloped California on Wednesday (March 22). The tornado had max winds of 110 mph and had a 0.42-mile damage path that was 50 yards wide.
It was on the ground for roughly three minutes, damaging 17 structures in an industrial area in Montebello. Eleven of the buildings suffered significant damage as the tornado tore off roofs and damaged cars parked on the street. The tornado left at least one person injured.
“It got very loud. Things were flying all over the place,” Michael Turner, who was working in an office when the tornado hit, told NBC News. “The whole factory became a big dustbowl for a minute. Then when the dust settled, the place was just a mess.”
A second, smaller tornado also touched down in a mobile home park in Santa Barbara County, damaging 25 residences.
While nobody was killed as a result of the tornadoes, the storm system left five people dead in northern California. Two people were killed in separate incidents of a tree falling on a vehicle. Another man was killed when a tree fell on his tent. Two other people died after being hospitalized for injuries sustained during the storms.