The latest in powerhouse storms to strike California this week has produced a rare event in southern California. It is not like there has never been a tornado or waterspouts before, but it does not happen often. But with this event there was one of the more well developed mesocyclone signatures ever seen southern California, one that produced a tornado in the Long Beach area early Tuesday afternoon. The first sign was shortly before Noon when a small rotation showed up on radar west-northwest of the northern tip of Catalina Island. This continued to develop into a large, well developed mesocyclone over the next 15 to 30 minutes. As it moved onshore near Long Beach there were reports of a tornado touchdown causing some damage. This mesocyclone was not only aloft but existed right down to the surface. Winds along the Orange County coast were blowing from the southeast at 20 to 40 mph while at the Long Beach Airport the surface wind was from the north at 20+mph. In addition, the surface pressure dropped down to near 980 mb in this area.
