Video: Strongest Los Angeles tornado in 40 years damages several buildings, injures 1

The EF-1 twister touched down in a Montebello warehouse district just after 11 a.m. and wreaked havoc over nearly a half-mile path for about 2 to 3 minutes before dissipating, according to the National Weather Service.

LOS ANGELES – What officials have described as the strongest tornado to strike the Los Angeles metro area in 40 years ripped through an industrial park Wednesday morning, injuring at least one person and causing damage to several buildings.

The EF-1 twister touched down in a Montebello warehouse district just after 11 a.m. and wreaked havoc over nearly a half-mile path for about 2 to 3 minutes before dissipating, according to the National Weather Service. 

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Images from FOX 11 Los Angeles' SkyFOX helicopter showed multiple cars that were damaged and roofs torn from buildings. In all, an NWS storm survey team found 17 structures with at least some damage, 11 of them with significant damage. 

One building lost nearly its entire roof with its air conditioning unit tossed from the top of the building, and a nearby power pole was snapped in half with the transformer blown off, the NWS said. One person suffered minor injuries.

NWS survey meteorologists estimated the peak winds of the tornado at 110 mph, rating an EF-1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.  

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‘Are you guys OK?’

Tony Salinas said he and his wife spotted the funnel cloud just before debris started raining down.

"It looked like a funnel cloud," Salinas told FOX Weather's Max Gorden. "Then, it just started getting more intense. That’s when … I saw the debris just come out of nowhere and just started falling everywhere. So, I told my wife, ‘We better get out of here.’"

Another eyewitness got choked up as he described surveying the aftermath of a warehouse that was damaged by the twister.

"I ran behind, to the back of the warehouse, and asking them, ‘Are you guys OK?’ and they said, ‘Yes. We are OK, OK," he said. "That’s the most important thing, man – to survive, to be alive – and we’ll be all right."

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It was the second tornado to hit Southern California this week as yet another deadly atmospheric river-fueled storm struck the state.

NWS officials said an EF-0 tornado touched down in southeast Santa Barbara County on Tuesday evening, damaging 25 mobile homes. Officials found it had winds of up to 75 mph. 

All of these storms were part of the latest deadly atmospheric river to hit California.

How rare are Los Angeles tornadoes?

According to data from NOAA, there have only been 10 confirmed tornadoes reported in Los Angeles County since 2000. 

Officials at the National Weather Service said Wednesday's tornado was the strongest to hit the Los Angeles Metro area since March 1, 1983, when an F-2 tornado struck near the Convention Center, damaging 50 buildings and injuring 30 people. 

The last time a twister hit Los Angeles County was Sept. 9, 2021, near the town of Llano, about 40 miles northeast of Los Angeles, according to NOAA data. The weak tornado, which may have been a landspout, was rated EF-0 on the Enhanced Fujita scale. It developed near the community of Lake Los Angeles. No damage was reported.

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The last confirmed tornado in the Los Angeles metro happened Dec. 12, 2014, in the View Park area, according to NOAA’s data. It damaged the roof of an apartment complex and two homes. A steel billboard also sustained damage. It was rated an EF-0.

The NOAA data showed there hasn’t been a tornado in Los Angeles County in March since 1992, when an F-1 twister with 100-mph winds hit the El Sereno district of Los Angeles on March 20. About 10 homes were damaged.

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