A small tornado briefly touched down in Carpinteria Tuesday night, damaging around two dozen mobile homes, the National Weather Service confirmed.
The EF0 “weak, narrow” twister touched down at the Sandpiper Village Mobile Home Park and damaged around 25 homes, the NWS said Wednesday. It reached estimated peak wind speeds of 75 mph.
The tornado in the Santa Barbara County community also caused minor tree damage to an adjacent cemetery. Witnesses had earlier reported a possible landspout tornado or waterspout in Carpinteria.
The twister happened during an early spring storm that brought hours of rain and snow Tuesday.
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The Ventura County Fire Department said a spout of some type was first reported near Carpinteria on the Santa Barbara County coast, then in the Malibu area. Witness Lucas Seehof captured video of winds scattering debris, including parts of buildings.
"I'm staring at it and I realize, these are 4-foot-by-8-foot sheets of roofing, plywood, big pieces of timber flying in the air," said Luca Seehof. "These aren't little palm fronds or leaves, this is parts of structures flying in the air."
Several witnesses can be heard commenting about damage to greenhouses.
"We've never seen a wind speed quite as high," Seehof said.
Seehof said the winds toppled trees and damaged a neighbor's carport.
A landspout is a type of tornado with a narrow funnel that looks like a rope and forms while a thunderstorm cloud is growing. Landspout rotation originates near the ground.
Waterspouts are similar, but occur over water.
"A survey team will be heading to the Carpinteria area this afternoon to assess the damage of a mobile home park and determine if the cause was from a possible landspout tornado last evening," the National Weather Service tweeted.
The spout was part of a day of downpours throughout the region during the latest in a series of powerful storms fueled by atmospheric rivers -- long plumes of moisture that power some of California's most destructive storms.
A tornado warning was issued Tuesday night for central Ventura County and southwestern Los Angeles County. At 8:17 a.m., a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was spotted over Ventura County's Point Mugu State Park, about 10 miles south of Camarillo. The storm was moving at about 35 mph toward western Malibu and Newbury Park.
The system was expected to move out late Wednesday, but not before another wave of scattered showers.
Tornadoes are rare, but not unprecedented in Southern California.
The warning was issued 40 years to the month after a tornado packing winds between 113 and 157 mph swept through neighborhoods south of downtown Los Angeles, destroying homes and businesses, flipping cars, hurling debris and ripping part of the roof from the LA Convention Center.
The tornado left a scene of devastation usually associated with the Midwest and southern plains.
Nine people were killed. More than 150 buildings were damaged or destroyed. More than 30 people were injured.
When a tornado warning is issued, anyone in the warning area is advised to move to a basement -- if you happen to have one -- or interior room on the lowest floor of a building. Stay away from windows.
If you're outdoors or in a mobile home or car, it's best to find more substantial shelter and protection from flying debris.
