On Christmas morning, as families in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, gathered for their holiday traditions, a rare and startling event swept through the neighborhood. At precisely 10:10 a.m. on December 25, 2025, an EF-0 tornado—the lowest rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale—touched down in the heart of the city, leaving a trail of damage and a community grappling with the aftermath of an unusual weather phenomenon. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the tornado’s winds peaked at 80 miles per hour, carving a path roughly a third of a mile long and 30 yards wide through densely populated streets near Whittier Boulevard and Lorena Street.
The NWS, joined by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and emergency management officials, conducted a thorough survey of the affected area. Their findings were clear: the tornado, though brief—lasting just about three minutes—left a visible mark. Roofs were torn apart, windows shattered, and signs ripped from storefronts. Power poles were bent and moderate-sized tree branches lay scattered on the ground. Surveillance footage from a local restaurant, El Nuevo Mariscos Tampico, captured the chaos as debris was hurled through the air. Ronald Arevalo, whose family owns the restaurant, described the moment to KABC-TV: “It was scary. It was a really loud noise. The smoke shop sign spiraled, came down and shattered a glass window. Everyone was just stunned and scared. We had no clue what was going on.”
Residents on Lee Street between Lorena and Spence streets, considered ground zero by the NWS, experienced the brunt of the twister. One home suffered significant roof damage, resulting in rainwater leaking inside. Neighbor Carlos recounted to Eyewitness News, “It blew like, if it was a tornado coming through our neighborhood.” Mauricio Mendez, another resident, said, “We were inside the house, and we were just watching movies, and we hear this big gust of wind, like hitting our window. And then all of a sudden, we look outside, and the roof of the neighbor's is just flying all over the place.”
The tornado’s path ended in an alley just north of the shopping plaza off South Lorena Street, where additional damage to residential roofs and chain-link fences was found. Video footage showed strong winds pulling signage off a Boost Mobile store and sending the sign from a smoke shop crashing into the windows of a Mexican food restaurant, shattering the glass and sending debris inside. The scene was one of confusion and disbelief, as many in the community had never experienced anything like it before.
Despite the dramatic visuals and property damage, there was a collective sigh of relief: no injuries were reported. Mayor Karen Bass visited the affected sites and met with residents, including Francisco Gallegos, owner of the damaged home on Lee Street. “We took his information down to make sure that he can get whatever assistance he needs,” Bass told reporters. Emphasizing the need for preparedness in the face of increasingly unpredictable weather, Bass remarked, “Us having these very different events that we are not used to experiencing, the main message to Angelenos is we can't look at ourselves as different and immune for extreme weather events like we might have in the past.”
City officials moved quickly to support those impacted. Los Angeles City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado was on-site with the NWS during the damage assessment and issued a statement: “Many families woke up on Christmas Day to damage in their neighborhoods caused by an unusual and powerful storm. Since that time, the National Weather Service has determined that a weak tornado briefly touched down in Boyle Heights, bringing intense winds that damaged roofs, windows, and property in our community. My office was on-site with the National Weather Service during its assessment and is now working closely with City departments to ensure residents who were impacted get the support they need. If your home or property was affected, please contact 311 or my office so we can help connect you to available resources and services. Events like this can be frightening, but I am relieved that there are no reports of injuries. Boyle Heights is resilient, and I am grateful for this community’s strength and care for one another.”
Residents whose homes or businesses suffered damage were urged to reach out to Jurado’s office or call 311 for assistance and information about available resources. The city’s rapid response included making support services available to those in need, a move praised by both local officials and community members.
Dr. Ariel Cohen, a meteorologist with the NWS, provided context for the event at a Friday news conference. “Enhanced Fujita Scale level 0, 80 mph winds, path length quarter-mile, path width 30 yards,” Cohen explained. “Relative to many tornadoes in Oklahoma, it was one of the lowest ratings, but still impactful.” He further noted, “We do get these weak brief tornadoes in the LA area, and you need to take them seriously.” Cohen also explained that the tornado was a product of a powerful atmospheric river storm system that had drenched Southern California beginning on Christmas Eve, prompting evacuation warnings and flooding in nearby mountain communities. “Why? We had a very strong atmospheric river that was constantly bringing more and more energy, pulling some of it over a broader area,” Cohen said.
Interestingly, the NWS did not issue a tornado warning for this event. Cohen addressed this decision, saying, “We really reserve these warnings that cause the wireless emergency alerts to be for the most life-threatening situations.” He added that issuing too many warnings risks causing “significant alert fatigue,” a phenomenon where repeated alerts may lead people to ignore them, potentially putting lives at risk during more severe events.
While tornadoes remain a rarity in Southern California, they are not unheard of. The Boyle Heights incident follows similar EF-0 tornadoes that struck Pico Rivera in March 2025 and Montebello in 2023. Earlier in the year, a tornado touched down at a mobile home park in Ventura County. The Enhanced Fujita Scale, used by weather investigators to categorize tornadoes, rates them from EF-0 (65–85 mph winds) to EF-5 (winds exceeding 200 mph). Though the Boyle Heights tornado was at the lower end of the scale, its impact was a stark reminder that extreme weather can—and does—strike even in places where it's least expected.
As the city recovers and braces for more rain and wind in the coming week, the Christmas Day tornado has left residents and officials alike reconsidering what it means to be prepared in a changing climate. For many in Boyle Heights, the experience was both a shock and a call to resilience, underscoring the importance of community support and readiness in the face of the unpredictable.
