The son of the restaurant owners whose business was hit by a tornado in Boyle Heights said his parents are in complete disbelief over the rare weather event.
\nWinds whipped through the Southland on Christmas Day as a winter storm dumped inches of rain over a three-day period. With the storm came a slew of weather alerts, including flood watches, caution for potential mudslides and even a tornado warning for the San Gabriel Valley.
\nIt was Boyle Heights, however, that was hit with a twister.
\nEl Nuevo Mariscos Tampico took some damage when the EF0 tornado touched down in the Los Angeles neighborhood. Surveillance footage from a nearby business captured the moment debris scattered through the area due to the strong winds, forcing a sign to hit the restaurant\u2019s front windows and break them.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t even know what to think,\u201d said Ronald Arevalo, whose father and stepmother own the restaurant. \u201cA tornado in LA? That\u2019s such a rare occurrence. Not even rare, it\u2019s just unbelievable. That\u2019s something not heard of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Southern California isn\u2019t typically associated with twisters, there have been some in recent years.
\nAn EF0 tornado touched down in Pico Rivera earlier this year in March and in 2023, another tornado ripped through the roofs of several businesses in Montebello. When this twister occurred, Arevalo\u2019s father was in the restaurant\u2019s office and his stepmother was in the kitchen.
\nRoof tiles were scattered all across the front year of the home after strong winds swept through the area. Keenan Willard and Belen de Leon report for the NBC4 News at 3 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey heard a loud bang \u2026 and they came out startled as to what happened,\u201d Arevalo said. \u201cSo when they saw the trash on the floor, they thought, \u2018Who did this?\u2019 You wouldn\u2019t think a tornado happened and then little by little, they found out.\u201d
\nThankfully, no injuries were reported in connection with the tornado.
\n\u201cWhen I saw that, I was so glad that they\u2019re not injured,\u201d Arevalo said. \u201cEspecially, too, since they had just opened up. No one was inside, so luckily, no one was sitting down. No one got injured.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tornado that hit Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, was an unexpected and rare weather event. The damage to El Nuevo Mariscos Tampico and the surrounding area serves as a reminder of the unpredictability of natural disasters. Fortunately, no one was injured, and the community is grateful for the lack of harm. As the area recovers from the storm, residents are left to ponder the unusual occurrence of a tornado in LA.<\/p>\n
Q: What type of tornado touched down in Boyle Heights?
\nA: An EF0 tornado touched down in the Los Angeles neighborhood.
\nQ: Were there any injuries reported in connection with the tornado?
\nA: No, thankfully, no injuries were reported.
\nQ: Is it common for tornadoes to occur in Southern California?
\nA: No, tornadoes are rare in Southern California, but there have been some instances in recent years.
\nQ: What was the extent of the damage to El Nuevo Mariscos Tampico?
\nA: The restaurant suffered damage to its front windows, which were broken by a sign that was forced by strong winds.
\nQ: What was the reaction of the restaurant owners to the tornado?
\nA: The owners, Ronald Arevalo\u2019s father and stepmother, were in disbelief and initially thought someone had vandalized the restaurant before learning about the tornado.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction to the Unlikely Weather Event The son of the restaurant owners whose business was hit by a tornado in Boyle Heights said his parents are in complete disbelief over the rare weather event. Winds whipped through the Southland on Christmas Day as a winter storm dumped inches of rain over a three-day period. With […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":26374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-26372","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-weather"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/media.nbclosangeles.com\/2025\/12\/image-33-2.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=1500,846&w=1500&resize=1500,845&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26372"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26372"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26375,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26372\/revisions\/26375"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}