The Los Angeles office of the National Weather Service confirmed a tornado moved through the Pico Rivera area east of downtown early Thursday, as a powerful storm system battered Southern California with heavy rain and damaging winds. The office classified it as a zero, the lowest level on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which runs up to five.

Although tornadoes are unusual for the region, they are not unheard of, especially this time of year.

“The L.A. basin area tends to be a magnet for tornadoes for this time of year,” said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the NWS Los Angeles office. “I’d say March is a favorable month for them in this area.”

Before Thursday, the most recent tornado reported near downtown Los Angeles was in March 2023, when a strong twister tore through Montebello, about eight miles east of downtown Los Angeles, damaging warehouses and nearby buildings. In March 1983, two tornadoes, one in downtown Los Angeles and one in Pasadena, caused widespread damage and numerous injuries as part of a storm system that left at least nine dead across the West Coast.

Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  The animation shows data from the GOES-18 satellite, which uses an infrared wavelength that detects water vapor in the upper troposphere, All times on the map are Pacific. By William B. Davis

The tornado on Thursday coincided with a storm system slamming into Southern California late Wednesday and early Thursday, unleashing bouts of heavy rain, gusty winds and prompting widespread weather alerts.

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