Maria Montejano's husband was outside filming some bizarrely shaped clouds when he realized the funnel was headed straight towards his home.
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"They were just spinning, and not just spinning normally. That's when I got scared, ran to get the kids," Montejano said.
Four blocks down the street, families were caught off guard too.
"I see this debris tumbling up to the top, and it got bigger and bigger, I realize this is not good. I automatically think tornado," said Lupe Gallardo.
As Gallardo herded his family indoors, his surveillance system caught the brutal winds tossing everything in its path.
The tornado touched down on at least three homes, ripped apart countless fences, and flung two trampolines into the air.
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It traveled horizontally for about 300 yards; the wind speeds reached 70 miles an hour.
"I'm thinking the house is going to be lifted. I yelled for everybody to get in the middle then we hear the ruckus," Gallardo said.
Tornados are so rare in California that families say it took a second to remember where to shelter safely.
"The first thing that came to mind was the windows; everybody get away from the windows," Gallardo said.
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The National Weather Service says this tornado ranked low on the EF scale.
But regardless of the number, they are all dangerous and can cause injuries or property damage.
We've seen an abnormally high number of tornadoes in the Valley this year. This was number four.
Meteorologists say it's because most of the storms we've had came in from a colder origin like Canada versus the Pacific.