Tornado touches down in Pico Rivera, leaving trail of destruction behind

Residents were stunned after a tornado touched down in Pico Rivera early Thursday morning, leaving behind a trail of destruction.

At around 3:15 a.m., the tornado, an EF-0 on the Enhanced Fujita scale with wind speeds of up to 85 mph, touched down at a neighborhood on the 9500 block of Glencannon Drive.  

It spanned approximately one mile in length and 80 yards in width, the National Weather Service confirmed.

Lasting around two minutes, the twister knocked down trees and power lines and tore up sidewalks, fences and structures. Several water pipes were also ruptured, officials said.

No injuries to people or animals were reported. The tornado arrived during a powerful storm that hit the Southern California region.

Some toppled trees, many being large pines, landed atop parked vehicles, shattering windshields and damaging the roofs.

Residents in the area recalled the moment they heard the brief but startling tornado touch down.

“I hear this loud bang and I walk over to the living room window,” one neighbor recalled. “I open it and I see this tree sprawled out in my front yard.”

“Me and my wife, we thought it was an earthquake,’ said Adrian Campos, a resident whose home surveillance cameras captured the tornado making its way down the street and setting off car alarms.

NWS later dispatched a team of six meteorologists to survey the damage that spanned four blocks. 

“We are still looking at the potential for showers and storms to be capable of producing strong gusty winds, small hail and even at times today, they couldn’t rule out a couple of funnel clouds and maybe even another small, brief, weak tornado,” said Ariel Cohen, a NWS meteorologist. “The main message is that folks need to be ready, to be prepared. Get in, get down and cover up.”

KTLA meteorologist Henry DiCarlo spoke about what weather officials were looking for.

“They’ll look at the damage and the path of the damage, and then they can determine whether it was just a downburst or if it was a tornado that had vortexing,” DiCarlo said. “We don’t get tornadoes too often but all 50 states can get tornadoes.”

Although tornados remain uncommon in Los Angeles County, the last reported tornado was in March 2023 when an EF1 twister touched down in Montebello. It was the strongest weather event to impact the L.A. metro area in 40 years. 

“We are grateful that there have been no reported injuries,” said Pico Rivera Mayor John R. Garcia. “I want to commend our emergency responders and city personnel for their immediate action in keeping our community safe. Our top priority is ensuring all hazards are addressed and utilities are restored as quickly as possible.”