F2 Tornado — Sanpete, Utah

2002-09-08 · near Manti, Sanpete, Utah

Event narrative

An F2 tornado began one mile south-southwest of Manti and moved northeast through Southeast Manti. The first mile of the tornado path was across open land, however the tornado produced some remarkable damage at the start. A 10X12 foot pioneer building was lifted, rotated 90 degrees, and moved 8 feet before being dropped back to the ground. At the south end of Manti, the tornado struck the Anderson Lumber business and did substantial damage. A 40 foot semi-trailer, loaded with insulation, was lifted and thrown onto it's side approximately 35 to 40 feet away. A large amount of debris, along with a 10X10 foot wooden shed, was thrown across Highway 89 and over the hill some 200 to 300 feet away. The wide swath of the tornado did considerable damage as it moved through the residential area in Southeast Manti. As the tornado exited the residential area, where some of the heaviest damage occurred, a 26 foot camp trailer was lifted and thrown to the west-northwest some 150 to 200 feet and disintegrated. The tornado continued across open farmland another half a mile or so before dissipating near the mountains. It has been determined that this was a high-end F2 tornado, with winds as high as 157 mph. The distance traveled was 2.75 miles, and the width was 800 feet. Time on the ground was approximately 15 minutes. Estimated damage is around $2,000,000, but could still go higher. Amazingly, there were no injuries.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5325452. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.