National Weather Service confirms tornado hits Southern California city of Montebello
A tornado hit the city of Montebello in Southern California, damaging buildings as the National Weather Service assesses the rare weather event.
The tornado hit Wednesday at about 11:20 a.m. PT in the city less than 10 miles southeast of Los Angeles, the National Weather Service said.
“It’s definitely not something that’s common for the region,” said meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld with the weather service.
One person was injured and was taken to a hospital in Montebello, said Alex Gillman, a city spokesman. He didn’t know the severity of the injury.
The city closed some streets "due to a weather-related incident."
The National Weather Service about 8 p.m. ET confirmed a tornado hit Montebello, but the agency said, "we are still assessing the damage."
**MONTEBELLO UPDATE**
Our damage survey team has officially confirmed that there was a TORNADO in Montebello around 11:20 AM on 3/22/23. No EF rating yet, we are still assessing the damage! A full report will be coming late this evening.
EF Scale: https://t.co/VWCYSkHMN6— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) March 23, 2023
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Videos captured tornado and wind damage near Los Angeles
Earlier in the day, several videos posted on Twitter and shared with local news stations showed what appeared to be pieces of roofs ripped off building and debris twisting in the sky, as some cars were moved around and damaged.
Wow!! A possible tornado touched down in #Montebello the power is out for a few blocks and there is a lot of damage #cawx Video from Daniel Wilsey pic.twitter.com/cytRunZnRW
— Alex Cheney (@abc7alex) March 22, 2023
Tornado hits south maple ave in Montebello tearing the roof off multiple buildings and destroying multiple cars pic.twitter.com/yJrbuPMccj
— Turtle (@njtehcherchian) March 22, 2023
Breaking: New video of wild wind in Montebello. It looks like a tornado @kcalnews @NWS #montebello pic.twitter.com/KC2LlBDYBw
— michele gile (@michelegiletv) March 22, 2023
National Weather Service still investigating damage
The NWS had said Wednesday afternoon it was sending a survey team to Montebello to investigate the possible tornado. The NWS also confirmed a tornado on Tuesday hit the city of Carpinteria in Santa Barbara, where several mobile homes were damaged, with estimated winds of up to 75 mph.
Debris was spread over more than one city block. Inspectors checked 17 buildings in the area, and 11 of them were red-tagged as uninhabitable, according to the fire department. Several cars were also damaged.
The last time the weather service’s Los Angeles office sent out tornado assessment teams was 2016 near Fillmore in Ventura County, where it was determined that a small twister had touched down, Schoenfeld said.
Our damage survey team has completed the assessment of the tornado in Carpinteria yesterday and have given it an EF0 rating with winds estimated up to 75 mph.
**They are now on their way to Montebello and we will update you on the assessment LATER ON.**https://t.co/te8O8tBoYr— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) March 22, 2023
Tornados come during severe weather
The tornados occurred as the state is being hit with more rain and snow, as well as strong wind gusts in another storm meteorologists called a "bomb cyclone."
Two people in state were killed Tuesday.
Contributing: Associated Press
Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tornado hits Montebello, California; 1 person hurt, buildings damaged