Freakish Weather

LOS ANGELES — A severe-weather system that brought hail storms, tornadoes and heavy rains to much of Southern California on Thursday, flooded streets in Moreno Valley, unleashed mudslides in the fire-scarred canyons of the Santa Ana Mountains and transformed some neighborhoods with a dusting of snow and hail. California Highway Patrol Officer Alex Santos watched twin twisters bear down on Interstate 215 in Riverside County. Santos, 40, said he saw one of the tornadoes topple a tractor-trailer and overturn several boxcars on the train tracks nearby in a cloud of dust and debris. The truck driver had to be cut out of the cab and suffered lacerations and a back injury.

WINDSOR, Colo. — Residents of a devastated neighborhood grabbed what they could from their debris-strewn homes before police imposed an overnight curfew after a tornado swept through northern Colorado, killing one person and injuring 13. The twister skipped through several towns in Weld County on Thursday, damaging or destroying dozens of homes, businesses, dairies and farms. The storm system pelted the region with golf-ball-size hail, swept vehicles off roads and tipped 15 rail cars off the tracks in Windsor, a farm town about 70 miles north of Denver.

• JJ Commentary: Locally, we went rapidly from record-breaking heat to record cold. This type of extreme weather will continue to worsen as we slide further and further into end-time darkness. Therefore, all the more reason to become more and more dedicated to being a “light of the world."