Powerful gust of wind in San Clemente determined to be straight-line winds, not tornado – NBC4 Los Angeles

Powerful gust of wind in San Clemente determined to be straight-line winds, not tornado  NBC4 Los Angeles

Tornadoes are rare in Southern California but not uncommon Officials said they received a report that a tree may have been damaged by the suspected tornado. Hetty Chang, Christian Cázares and Karma Dickerson report for the NBC4 News at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026. Weather officials were investigating a possible tornado in San Clemente as a strong October storm brought periods of heavy rain across Southern California on Thursday. After the National Weather Service said its San Diego office sent a team to survey a possible tornado reported at the San Clemente Golf Course, the NWS determined it was not a tornado and is calling it straight-line winds. Officials said they received a report that a tree may have been damaged by the phenomenon.

While the report was received around noon Thursday, officials were not certain when the tree may have been struck. People who live between the area and the ocean say the strong winds ripped through their neighborhood, with one man saying he stood in the center of his home because he thought the windows were going to break. Tim Brown, who lives in San Clemente, was golfing around 6 p.m., just as the straight-line winds swept through the golf course. "Maybe a 30-foot path it just carved right through here," Brown said. "It had enough