GRANTSVILLE, Utah (ABC4) – A tornado touched down in Grantsville Wednesday shortly before 2 p.m., the National Weather Service (NWS) confirms.
A landspout tornado touched down at 6 SSW near Grantsville in an open field near the Stansbury Mountains, based on preliminary data from the NWS.
A video captured by an ABC viewer captured it.
For reference, a landspout is a non-supercell tornado, defined with narrow, rope-like condensation funnels that form when a thunderstorm cloud is still growing with no rotating updraft. You can clearly see that funnel in the video and picture.
Spinning motion originates near the ground with these, so a vertically oriented column of air exists. Landspouts are usually weak and short-lived, but can still pack winds up to 100 miles per hour.
This is the second tornado of the year. Just three weeks ago, an EF-2 tornado touched down in Duchesne County on Father’s Day and left a path of damage of more than two miles.
The National Weather Service completed its damage report days after and the report clocks the estimated peak wind at 125 miles per hour.
Utah averages three tornados a year statewide, and last year, four tornados were confirmed throughout the state including in Juab, Emery, Weber and Davis Counties. The confirmed 2021 tornadoes in Juab, Emery and Weber counties were landspout tornadoes.
The tornadoes near Mona, Utah and Huntington, Utah were captured on camera and shared on social media in early July. The Weber County tornado happened in late July 2021 and was initially classified as a dust devil, then reclassified.
The Davis County tornado in early September of 2021 was classified as an EF-1 tornado and also had a path of more than two miles. Several rounds of thunderstorms brought severe weather hazards to the state of Utah, including flash flooding in southern and eastern Utah, and damaging winds, hail, and a tornado in Northern Utah.
This tornado caused damage in North Salt Lake, Utah, then lifted, touched back down and brought damage to Woods Cross, Utah. The setup for this was different than a landspout. This was a more classic tornado in which the necessary ingredients are found in major thunderstorms. It’s usually warm, humid conditions near the surface, cool air at altitude, and winds that move quickly and flow in opposite directions to create rotation.
For reference, tornadoes are classified by the Enhanced Fujita Scale:
Stay tuned for the full report on this Utah weather incident.
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