Strong wind gust described as ‘tornado’ hits Santa Ynez Valley causing damage

Thursday’s storm even caused chaos in Santa Ynez. Community members there say they witnessed what they described as a tornado.

Community members at Santa Ynez Valley Presbyterian Church had some clean up after Thursday’s bad weather.

Trees were knocked down, the landscape in disarray, and a nearly 500-pound statue blown across the parking lot is a result of this weather event.

“It was like a hurricane or a tornado going through,” said Mitchell Read, a church member.

The National Weather Service did see signs of a strong wind gust in front of a line of thunderstorms on the radar. Meteorologists there say they cannot rule out the possibility that a small tornado touched down in Santa Ynez.

“It was just all of a sudden, the wind picked up and it took our playset and everything and it threw it in a circle like a tornado and it threw things everywhere,” said Jeremy Brown, a resident that lives near the church. “Our fence is down, and so was the playset.”

Jeremy Brown lives near the Church and said the tornado-like weather struck his neighborhood as well. The wind was so strong it blew a tree over on top of his car.

“I was like, what just happened? Shocked was the initial reaction and then after that, it was just like, wow did that really just happen,” said Brown.

No buildings at the church were damaged and no one was hurt, but now community members are left cleaning up after an event they have never seen before.

“This is new,” said Read. “This is something that I haven’t seen. This is a rare incident.”