The most recent confirmed tornado in Los Angeles County touched down on Christmas Day, December 25, 2025, in the neighborhood of Boyle Heights. This event was classified by the National Weather Service (NWS) as a weak tornado. A tornado is defined as a violently rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm cloud and making contact with the ground. The existence of a tornado is verified through a post-event damage survey that matches destruction patterns to the Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale.
The Specifics of the Last Tornado Event
The confirmed tornado in Boyle Heights occurred around 10:10 a.m. on Christmas morning, during an intense winter storm driven by an atmospheric river. National Weather Service officials assigned the tornado a rating of EF-0, the lowest classification on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. This rating corresponds to estimated wind speeds between 65 and 85 miles per hour.
The path of the tornado was notably short, traveling for about a third of a mile and remaining on the ground for only a few minutes. It was a narrow vortex, measured at approximately 30 yards wide, affecting the area near Lorena Street and Whittier Boulevard. The primary damage occurred at a commercial strip mall and nearby homes, where the winds shattered windows, ripped pieces of roofing material, and caused structural damage to businesses.
Surveillance video captured the moment the winds tore through the area, showing debris flying and a man struggling to stand against the force of the wind. Although the event was brief and classified as weak, it was strong enough to cause significant property damage and was part of a destructive storm system affecting Southern California. Fortunately, no injuries were reported in connection with this specific tornado.
Tornadoes in Southern California: A Rarity
While the Boyle Heights event was a confirmed tornado, such occurrences are relatively rare in the Los Angeles area compared to the frequency observed in the Midwest and Southern Plains. The four-county area of Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo typically sees an average of only one or two confirmed tornadoes per year. Across the entire state of California, the annual average is around seven to ten tornadoes, with the Los Angeles region experiencing more twisters than any other area west of the Rocky Mountains.
The vast majority of tornadoes in California, including those in the Los Angeles Basin, are weak, registering as EF0 or EF1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. These events are short-lived and narrow, causing only localized damage. Historically, Los Angeles County has recorded the highest number of tornadoes in the state, with the strongest to hit the metropolitan area being an EF2 in 1983, which caused significant damage and injured dozens of people.
A distinction exists between a true tornado and the more common landspout or waterspout; all three are rotating columns of air, but their formation mechanism differs significantly. Landspouts and waterspouts form from the ground up and are often weak, representing the source of most of California’s confirmed tornadoes.
The Atmospheric Conditions that Create LA Tornadoes
Tornadoes in Los Angeles form under a unique set of meteorological circumstances that differ from the powerful supercell thunderstorms common in the Great Plains. The synoptic pattern favorable for Southern California tornadoes involves a strong upper-level low-pressure system, often a cold-core low, moving over the region. These systems bring colder air aloft over the relatively warmer Pacific Ocean and coastal areas, creating an unstable atmosphere.
Many Los Angeles tornadoes are non-supercell types, meaning they do not originate from a rotating updraft within a massive thunderstorm. Instead, they form as landspouts, where low-level wind shear near the surface is stretched vertically by the rapidly rising, unstable air.
This required low-level spin is frequently enhanced by the local topography and the passage of a cold front, which increases low-level convergence. The coastline and the inland mountain ranges can help concentrate the necessary low-level shear, providing the final ingredient for the weak vortex to develop and touch down. The resulting tornadoes are small and brief because the overall atmospheric shear and instability are modest compared to environments that support long-lasting, violent twisters.