Salt Lake City Tornado

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Salt Lake City Tornado of 1999

The Salt Lake City Tornado of 1999 rips through downtown

Date of tornado:

August 11, 1999

Time:

12:41-12:55 p.m. MDT (18:45-18:55 UTC)

Rating of tornado:

F2 tornado

Damages:

$170 million USD

Fatalities:

Area affected:

Downtown Salt Lake City

The Salt Lake City Tornado was a very rare tornado that occurred in Salt Lake City, Utah on August 11, 1999, during an unusually strong summer monsoon season. It was among the most notable tornadoes to hit west of the Great Plains in the 20th century and only the second tornado to hit in Utah that resulted in a fatality (the other occurring in 1884).^[1]

1 Meteorological synopsis
2 Damage
3 Tornadoes in the west
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Meteorological synopsis

In the Salt Lake Valley proper, the day began with calm but cloudy weather. As the day progressed, the clouds became steadily darker until nearly all light was obscured. Winds were still nearly calm, with the exception of a few microbursts. Hail preceded and followed this tornado, which was rated a strong F2 on the Fujita scale. At 12:41 p.m., 1 1/2 inch (4 cm) diameter hail was reported near the town of Herriman. Afterwards, the storm started rotating, and at around 1:00 pm, many people reported seeing the storm rotate as it moved into downtown Salt Lake City. A non-descending narrow tornado developed and traveled from western downtown toward the northeast before terminating near Memory Grove Park upon reaching the base of the Wasatch Mountains.^[1]

[edit] Damage

Damage to the Delta Center

Map of tornado's path

The tornado uprooted trees and destroyed temporary buildings set up for a retailers' convention, claiming one conference attendee's life. In The Avenues, over 120 homes were severely damaged and had roofs blown off and 34 homes were completely destroyed. Over 100 people were reported injured and a dozen critically.

The Delta Center (now the EnergySolutions Arena), home of the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association, suffered minor damage. All of the windows from the nearby Wyndham Hotel (now the Radisson Hotel) were broken out. Construction cranes for the LDS Conference Center were toppled by the storm, and damage to historic buildings in the lower Capitol Hill area of Salt Lake was reported. Nearly all of the trees in Memory Grove, a World War I memorial park at the mouth of City Creek Canyon near downtown, were reported torn out.

This was the first major tornado to occur in a major urban area's downtown district and strike buildings of nearly 500 ft. (150 m) tall according to Bill Alder of the National Weather Service. The governor of Utah in 1999, Michael O. Leavitt, heard the sound of the tornado moving between the tall glass buildings just before the windows imploded. The tornado caused about $170 million in damage.^[2]

[edit] Tornadoes in the west

Tornadoes are generally weak west of eastern Colorado, but Western states have had their share of tornadoes. In California, they usually hit around the Los Angeles area. Occasional intense tornadoes also strike Montana and eastern Wyoming.

A mile-wide, F4 tornado once hit in the Teton Valley of Wyoming. This tornado hit near the Continental Divide at an elevation of around 10,000 feet (3000 m).

Tornadoes have also hit the high plains/desert regions of northern Arizona, and the Sonoran desert in the center, but these are mostly dust devil or heavy monsoon storms. Tropical storm funnels have caused fatalities in extreme southern Arizona around Yuma.