Los Angeles: The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed the tornado that briefly touched down in Montebello to be the strongest to hit the Los Angeles neighborhood since March 1983.
Multiple tornadoes that caused massive damage in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties on March 21 were part of a series of wild weather events across California this week. Around 11:14 a.m. on Wednesday (March 21), the "intense microcell" descended into a warehouse and industrial park area of the city of Montebello and persisted there for about three minutes. The tornado's path was 50 yards wide and 0.42 miles long. With estimated peak winds of 110 mph, the tornado was classed by the NWS as an EF-1, slightly below an EF-2.
Wind gusts from EF-0 rated twisters range from 65 to 85 miles per hour, with the most potent EF-5 rating exceeding 200 miles per hour.
According to Michael Chee, a city public information officer, the Montebello twister left one person injured and destroyed at least 17 structures, 11 of which were so severely damaged that the fire department judged them unsafe for use.
The damage was extensive on Thursday, the day following the tornado. Hammers and chainsaws were used by crews as they passed through the devastation zone.
There were dozens of broken truck and automobile windows visible nearby. Antonio Luquin, the proprietor of Blues Auto Glass, reported that following the tornado, he received 15 to 20 phone calls from clients with damaged windows on commercial trucks and personal vehicles.
On March 1, 1983, an F-2 tornado ripped across the Los Angeles region. With winds exceeding 113 mph, it began in South Los Angeles, moved just past the USC campus, and finally dispersed close to the convention centre in downtown Los Angeles. The same day, an F-0 tornado also made landfall nearby Pasadena.
When 7 tornadoes struck Ventura, Los Angeles, and Orange Counties over the course of six hours on November 9, 1982, Southern California was hit by a large tornado outbreak.
There have been 470 verified tornadoes throughout the state of California over the previous 22 years, and there have been 46 confirmed tornadoes in Los Angeles County.
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