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F2 tornado in Salt Lake County, Utah

Tornado August 11, 1999 · Salt Lake County, Utah

F2
Rating
4.3 mi
Path length
150 yd
Path width
1
Death
80
Injuries
$170.0M
Damage as recorded
$500K
Crop damage
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

NOAA recorded where this tornado touched down but not where it lifted, so it appears as a point. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

Around lunch time, a tornado touched down in the southwest portions of Salt Lake City. The tornado intensified to an F2 on the Fujita scale, and moved northeast through the metropolitan area of Salt Lake City. It caused widespread damage at the Delta Center, then ripped across an outdoor retailers convention tent, where the lone fatality occurred along with many of the injuries. After blowing out many windows in the Wyndam Hotel, the tornado continued its northeast track, knocking down scaffolding and shearing off a crane at the LDS Assembly Hall construction site. Next it skirted the Capitol Building, ripping out several large trees there and in historic Memory Grove. It then moved into the residential area known as The Avenues, damaging hundreds of trees and ripping the roofs off of several homes, before finally lifting back into the clouds. All told, there was 1 fatality, 80 injured, 300 buildings and homes sustained damage, with 34 homes deemed uninhabitable. At least 500 trees were totally destroyed, with 300 more damaged. Many vehicles were damaged or totalled as well.

Began near Salt Lake City (40.7300, -111.8700).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5703912. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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