Update @ 9:36 p.m.: According to California Highway Patrol officials, motorists can expect continued delays with the closure of Ramona Expressway as crews works to clear the debris and ensure the safety of the roadways.
Closure of the expressway and surrounding roads could last into Monday.
The following photos show the funnel cloud as it moved towards touchdown near Nuevo, courtesy of Michael Mojarro, a local independent meteorologist and owner of SoCalweather.net:
Original: A menacing thunderstorm spawned a tornado that touched down near Nuevo this afternoon.
A tornado rips through and downs 12 power lines in Nuevo. (Joe Fanaselle/SWRNN)
The tornado downed up to twelve power-lines prompting authorities to shut down both directions of the Ramona Expressway while So Cal Edison removed and repaired the damage.
“There are no reported injuries and one vehicle is stranded with the driver trapped while So Cal Edison takes care of the live lines in the roadway,” Riverside County Fire Department spokeswoman Melodie Hendrickson said.
A total of six occupants in the single vehicle that was temporarily stranded were assisted to a safe location at approximately 5:20 p.m., according to a Riverside County Fire Department report.
Video courtesy of Daniel Lane:
Enormous thunderclouds and a sweltering high-pressure system have been hovering over the desert and Southwest Riverside County over the past few days creating extreme heat and humidity.
A tornado rips through and downs 12 power lines in Nuevo. (Joe Fanaselle/SWRNN)
The National Weather Service has issued extreme heat, flash flood and thunderstorm warnings in recent days, and the heat is expected to continue. The incident was visible from at least one community.
“From Idyllwild we could see several microbursts over the valley,” local resident Elicia Hopkins said.
No injuries are reported at this time.
However, motorists experienced delays and road closure as crews worked to secure the downed power lines.
More information will be provided as it comes available.
*Joe Fanaselle and Kerri S. Mabee contributed to this report.
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Southern California Weather Authority.com Predicted the Severe Weather. Check it out – http://www.theweatherspace.com/news/TWS-81212-tornado-southern-california-perris.html
They are probably the best forecasters in Southern California.
Thank You Daniel. I live around the corner from that intersection. It was hailing and the wind was blowing hard. It knocked my fence over and snapped my neighbors tree.
We were having a pool party for 2 year old Jeffery Glass when this came out of no where. It destroyed Jessica and Ariel’s Coleman canopy, uprooted several trees and took off a barn roof on Bell Avenue alone. Power and internet were out for hours. You had to be creative in order to get out of Nuevo as two of the major roads were closed. Thank goodness for flashlights, candles, good friends and family!
The National Weather Service is your official source for weather information. The Southern California Weather Authority has been spamming several places on the internet including nearly every one of my weather stories. I finally had to ban them. They said this year was going to be the worst for monsoon storms when in reality is was more mild than most other years.