Southern California’s stealth tornado alley is not out in the desert or up in the mountains. It is a surprisingly narrow strip running through East L.A. and parts of the South Bay, including neighborhoods just east of downtown Los Angeles and cities like Montebello, Compton, and Carson. That corridor has produced several short‑lived twisters in recent years, most recently a Christmas Day touchdown in Boyle Heights.
The twisters are typically weaker and shorter‑lived than the classic Plains tornadoes many people picture, but even EF‑0 or EF‑1 events can rip up roofs, shatter windows and fling debris across blocks. Local forecasters say winter and early spring storms are the prime time to watch for sudden wind damage, and they urge residents to treat thunderstorm and tornado advisories as more than just background noise.
As reported by ABC7, Dr. Ariel Cohen of the National Weather Service’s Oxnard office describes the zone as a “favored corridor” where the number of small tornadoes has locally rivaled parts of the Midwest. Cohen told ABC7 that those climatological hot spots include Montebello, Compton and Carson, and that the tornadoes usually spin up in low‑topped thunderstorms or strong showers…