KTLA

Cell phone video shows tornado tear through Montebello

As if Southern California hadn’t already seen enough wild weather since the start of the year, a tornado touched down in Montebello late Wednesday morning, damaging buildings.

The twister was first spotted around 11:30 a.m. in the area of South Vail Street and Washington Boulevard. Video captured by several KTLA viewers shows intense rotation as the tornado tore the roof from a large commercial building and sent debris flying.


A National Weather Service damage survey team was dispatched to Montebello, a city just east of downtown Los Angeles, and confirmed it was, in fact, an EF1 tornado that touched down.

KTLA viewer “IDKLeroy on IG/ Tik Tok” captured video of the tornado in Montebello on March 22, 2023.

Tornadoes are classified using an EF (Enhanced Fujita) Scale.

An EF0 is a tornado with three-second wind gusts of 65 to 85 miles per hour. An EF1 has winds of 86-110 mph. The most violent tornadoes, EF4 and EF5s, have wind speeds ranging from 166 to over 200 mph.