WATCH: Rare high-elevation tornado in Utah mountains at 7,500 feet

A tornado touched down in the mountains of Utah last week, a rare example of how tornadoes can happen almost anywhere.

A tornado touched down high in the Utah mountains Friday, Sept. 18, carving a path through a forest at an elevation of 7,500 feet. The rare twister is one of only about a dozen tornadoes reported in Davis County since 1950, of which only two have struck since the year 2000.

The tornado was sighted about 20 miles north of Salt Lake City, or 2 miles east of Fruit Heights, on Francis Peak. Hailstones to 1.5 inches in diameter were also reported from the storms north and south of Salt Lake City.

The tornado's strength will likely be rated EFU (unknown on the Enhanced Fujita Scale) because of its remote location.

An eyewitness to the storm was not able to return home after dozens of trees had fallen across the road. A Utah meteorologist visited the tornado site and reported widespread damage to trees.

While tornadoes are rare in the mountains, they can occur at high elevations. An EF1 tornado was confirmed in Divide, Colorado, at an elevation of 9,160 feet on June 17, 2025. The highest-elevation tornado ever confirmed in Colorado occurred at Purple Mountain, at 12,600 feet, on May 29, 2021. It is also one of the only tornadoes confirmed to have snow in its vortex.

Prior to that, the record-holder was a tornado at 12,156 feet at Rockwell Pass, California. The twister touched down within the boundaries of Sequoia National Park on July 7, 2004.

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