A Rare Tornado Touched Down 7,500 Feet Up in the Utah Mountains

A tornado touched down high in the mountains that dot the landscape last week, proving that this force of nature can happen nearly anywhere. Read on for the details of this rare high-elevation twister.

Tornado Hits Elevation of 7,500 Feet

Mother Nature is inherently unpredictable. This was demonstrated when a tornado touched down in the mountainous terrain about 20 miles north of Salt Lake City on Friday.

The twister was spotted on Francis Peak, about two miles east of Fruit Heights. With an elevation of 7,500 feet, Francis Peak is part of the Wasatch Range region of the northern Rocky Mountains. The tornado carved a path through the dense forest that distinguishes this part of the Beehive State.

Friday's tornado was part of a storm system that roared through this part of Utah. Hailstones as large as 1.5 inches in diameter were reported in areas north and south of Salt Lake City.

This tornado will likely go down as an EFU on the Enhanced Fujita Scale (EFS), meaning that its true strength is unknown. The EFS leans on a variety of metrics that are difficult to measure when the tornado happens in such a remote location.

While there were no buildings in its path, an eyewitness to the storm was unable to return home due to the trees that had been uprooted and strewn across the road. A meteorologist visited the site of impact and confirmed widespread damage to the trees in the area, signaling that this was a strong event.