Tornadoes possible as severe weather hits Southern California Monday

The National Weather Service has warned of possible tornadoes in Southern California as a massive storm with torrential rain and thunderstorms wallops the state.

A rare severe thunderstorm warning was issued by the NWS on Monday morning for San Luis Obispo and surrounding areas — impacting some 90,000 Californians.

The weather alert cautioned that conditions were favorable for isolated tornadoes and damaging 60 mph winds.

“Thunderstorms are expected Monday across the Los Angeles Basin, northern portions of the Central Valley and coastal Southern California,” AccuWeather told Newsweek in an email.

“Storms could produce damaging wind gusts, frequent lightning, downpours and an isolated tornado. The risk zone includes densely populated areas from San Luis Obispo County south through San Diego County, with additional spin-up tornado potential around the Sacramento Valley.”

The NWS office in Oxnard issued the warning at 6:38 a.m. local time, giving residents only minutes to seek shelter as a line of severe thunderstorms moved north from Morro Bay at 35 mph.

The warning remained in effect until 7:15 a.m., though forecasters cautioned that additional alerts could be issued as the storm threat persists throughout the day.

Residents in the warning area — including San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, Morro Bay and surrounding communities — were told to remain alert for rapidly developing tornadoes, damaging winds and torrential rainfall that could trigger flash flooding.

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