Video confirms tornado in Davis County; severe storms continue to impact Utah

FRUIT HEIGHTS — Federal forecasters say video confirms that a tornado touched down in the Utah mountains east of Fruit Heights, after weather spotters reported a funnel cloud and radar indicated the potential for tornadic activity Friday afternoon.

A video that TJ Ward sent to KSL Weather appears to show a tornado that touched down near Bair Canyon. The video has also circulated on social media, showing "rotation reaching the ground and debris being lofted into the air," the National Weather Service wrote in the report.

"The point that it touched down was near a summit along the ridgeline extending west from Francis Peak around 7,500 feet elevation," it added, noting that it estimates that it touched down shortly after 1:50 p.m., using radar and other information to estimate the time and location.

Meteorologists will determine the exact strength after reviewing damage in the area. Some reports take a few days to compile.

Based on the video and radar, the twister will likely register between EF-0 and EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, KSL meteorologist Matt Johnson said.

Other videos appeared to show a funnel cloud passing through Davis County after forming near the Great Salt Lake. It's unclear if it touched down in other locations.

Wind gusts of 50-65 mph were reported across areas north of Salt Lake County. A peak gust of 78 mph was also recorded near Legacy Highway in West Bountiful.

KSL reporters and viewers reported large hail in the area, some of it appearing to be golf ball- and ping-pong-sized, as the alerts also warned. Utah transportation cameras also showed ponding along parts of I-15 where the storm passed through.

Some severe thunderstorm warnings were also issued across the region Friday afternoon.

The National Weather Service previously advised that there would be a marginal risk for severe storms across Utah's northern half on Friday.

A low-pressure system moving toward Utah from the Pacific Northwest is forecast to collide with subtropical moisture moving from the southwest, creating shear and stronger thunderstorms, Johnson explained.

Scattered thunderstorms are possible throughout the evening, beginning to lose strength as the day continues, he said. Some additional showers are possible Saturday morning and afternoon, but cooler and drier conditions are forecast for most of the weekend.

Storms rarely become strong enough to produce a tornado warning, though. Friday's warning is only the second that the weather service's Salt Lake City office has issued this year. One it issued for Tooele County last month was its first since 2011.

Federal meteorologists ultimately determined that an EF-1 tornado touched down about 3 miles northeast of Dugway last month. Utah averages about two tornadoes every year.

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