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A rare, high-elevation tornado hits Utah mountainside at nearly 7,500 feet

When you're living near a mountainside, one of the last things you would expect to see moving fast at higher elevations would be a tornado, but that's what happened in Utah on Friday. According to the Salt Lake City, Utah, branch of the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) , a rare, strong twister occurred near Fruit Heights, Utah. The funnel first made contact with the ground near a summit along the ridgeline extending west from Francis Peak, at an elevation of about 7,500 feet (almost 2,300 metres). Tornadoes are uncommon at very high elevation due to drier air and less favourable thunderstorm dynamics. #FruitHeights #Utah This was taken at 1:42 PM today. #utwx Video: TJ Ward pic.twitter.com/RYMihTySvD SLCScanner (@SLCScanner) September 18, 2026 NEW VIDEO: TORNADO TOUCHES DOWN IN UTAH This tornado touched down in the foothills of Davis County Friday afternoon and then moved up into the mountains as the supercell thunderstorm pushed northeast. We saw very tight rotation on radar as the storm moved through, and this pic.twitter.com/6lXymkiYZy Chase Thomason (@ChaseThomason) September 18, 2026 Brittany Whitlam, a NWS meteorologist who works at the Salt Lake City office, told Newsweek that radar signatures showed the twister lofted debris 4,000 feet into the air. She also noted that, based on the radar and videos sent in from residents in the area, NWS can confirm it was a strong tornado, but there won't be an official rating designated until a survey team is deployed to the scene to review any damage incurred. As well, a second tornado struck south of Vernal, Utah. Thumbnail courtesy of Shon Stevenson | Storyful. With files from Dennis Mersereau, a digital journalist and weather specialist at The Weather Network. Follow Nathan Howes on X and Bluesky . This article originally appeared on The Weather Network at https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/rare-high-elevation-tornado-hits-utah-mountainside-at-nearly-2-300-metres

19 Sep 2026 9:04 pm