Possible tornado rips roof off Montebello building as wild weather continues

The National Weather Service was investigating the possibility that a tornado was responsible for ripping the roof off a building in Montebello on Wednesday morning.

It capped a period of wild weather across California that brought heavy winds and warnings of both tornados and landspouts.

A video sent to television station KTLA showed a dark funnel cloud forming over the Montebello area while footage from the station’s own news helicopter showed the roof of the structure on South Vail Street with enormous holes, with beams and the building’s interior open to the elements.

Debris was strewn around the scene, and several other buildings were visibly damaged.

“I’ve seen the videos so it’s definitely possible that a weak tornado hit down there,” said Kristen Stewart, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

The weather service is sending a survey team to Montebello to examine the scene and determine whether a tornado touched down, Stewart said. The agency is also investigating possible damage in Carpinteria.

The event is also known as a landspout, which is simply a weaker tornado formed by slightly different conditions than the powerful twisters seen in the Midwest, Stewart explained.

“We don’t have that type of environment that they have in the Plains,” Stewart said.