A small tornado touched down in Pico Rivera, uprooting trees. Here's why they periodically hit LA

A small tornado uprooted trees and damaged roofs and cars in Pico Rivera early Thursday, just as a powerful storm was moving out of Southern California, the National Weather Service confirmed.

Officials said the tornado touched down between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. with wind speeds of 85 mph. The tornado lasted 2 minutes and was around 1 mile long and 80 yards wide, damaging roughly four blocks.

Mike Wofford, a meteorologist at NWS, told LAist the tornado measured 0 on the EF scale, the lowest rating. While these tornadoes are relatively weak, they can cause moderate damage in densely populated areas. The tornado Thursday morning snapped trees, sending them toppling over roadways.

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How common are tornadoes

While tornadoes aren’t a frequent phenomenon in California, L.A. County has seen 49 since 1950, according to the most recent data available from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Six of the tornadoes caused injuries and 20 inflicted property damage.

The tornadoes typically happen in cooler months when powerful storms like the one we just had pass through the area.

Research from NOAA also shows that the L.A. area has seen a disproportionately higher number of tornadoes compared with the rest of California because of “the shape of the coastline and the inland location of the mountains enhance the low-level convergence field.”

In 2023, L.A. County saw two tornadoes separated by 13 minutes touch down in the Carson–Compton area as an unseasonably cool storm brought rain to the area. The tornadoes were small, but their winds estimated at 75 mph did cause some damage.