After a particularly harsh winter in the western United States, a tornado swept through a Southern California town on Wednesday, smashing through rooftops and rattling cars.
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The mass of swirling winds usually seen in the country’s central plains swept through Montebello, a few miles from Los Angeles.
“The tornado tore the roof off the building. All the car windows were smashed. Cars were destroyed, chaos reigned,” a dealer told local broadcaster KTLA.
Videos show what appears to be rotating roof panels over industrial buildings in this city of more than 60,000 people.
And aerial photos showed the extent of the damage: holes in several roofs, twisted and broken pipes, and cars being pushed out of their parking spots.
The national weather service NWS said it was studying the event, a “weak tornado” as well as another that struck Carpinteria, nearly 150km to the west.
That other tornado “damaged about 25 mobile homes,” the NWS said.
Preliminary agency estimates suggest both tornadoes had wind speeds of up to nearly 90 mph.
“This is quite a significant tornado for ordinary people (from California) as it struck a populated area, clearly causing damage and possible injury,” tweeted weather forecaster Daniel Swain.
The tornadoes came at the end of a heavy rain and snow storm that swept through California, causing power outages that affected hundreds of thousands of people.
Much of the state remains on flood alert, and a significant portion of Tulare County, where Sequoia National Park is located, is still under water.
The western United States has seen record levels of snowfall and rainfall in recent weeks.
California’s recent storms, like most others this season, are being fed by an “atmospheric flow,” a gigantic rain corridor that carries water vapor stored in the tropics, often around Hawaii.
California water officials believe that while the state’s reservoirs are far fuller than they have been in many years, that could quickly take a turn for the worse if the next winter comes as dry as 2022.
While it’s difficult to establish a direct link between these storms and climate change, scientists regularly state that warming increases the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.