Tornado Topples Trees In LA County; Snow Falls In Hollywood

LOS ANGELES, CA — A tornado toppled trees in Los Angeles County, and snow dusted the Hollywood sign Thursday, a cinematic display from Mother Nature before the brunt of a powerful storm hits Southern California overnight. The real storm is yet to come.

Blizzard conditions are expected in parts of Los Angeles County Friday after snow fell in places that hadn't seen a dusting in decades. The local mountains are under their first-ever blizzard warning. Equally rare, a tornado touched down in Los Angeles County Thursday, toppling several trees in La Mirada, KTLA reported. The National Weather Service confirmed a weak tornado touched down shortly before noon in the area of Spindlewood and Larrylyn drives.

As of Thursday morning, Hollywood, Simi Valley, Santa Clarita, La Crescenta, La Cañada Flintridge, Granada Hills and Sun Valley reported rare snowfall. The unusual sight stunned the experts and locals alike. Some claim it even snowed in Venice, but National Weather Service officials indicated it's more likely to be hail or graupel, which is when snowflakes form higher in the atmosphere and fall where it is above freezing, accumulating water and melting almost instantly.

At the same time, the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains were hit with intense snowfall Thursday in a prelude to the blizzard to come.

The rare blizzard warning will be in effect for Los Angeles County mountains from 4 a.m. Friday to 4 p.m. Saturday. National Weather Service forecasters said up to 5 feet of snow could accumulate in the mountains above 4,000 feet, accompanied by wind gusts topping 80 mph that will create "near zero visibility." Higher elevations could see as much as 8 feet of snow, with accumulations of 6 to 12 inches possible at elevations between 2,000 and 4,000 feet, "including most major mountain passes."

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"Travel should be restricted to emergencies only," according to the NWS. "If you must travel, have a winter survival kit with you. If you get stranded, stay with your vehicle."

On Thursday, scattered downpours washed over Southern California, dropping hail from to Pasadena and Long Beach

"For today (Thursday) and tonight just scattered light showers with rates generally a tenth of an inch per hour or less," according to the National Weather Service. "More shower activity than yesterday but still mostly on the light side. Main thing today continues to be the low snow levels which will result in some impacts to roads through the mountains, even in areas that don t often get snow, such as Cuesta Pass in (San Luis Obispo), possibly San Marcos Pass above Santa Barbara, and Highway 14 between Santa Clarita and the Antelope Valley."

The snow level dropped below 1,500 feet Thursday, but it will increase to at least 2,000 feet by late Friday morning.