Tornado in Utah, August 21, 2001

Name: Tornado in Utah, August 21, 2001
Start: 2001-08-21T15:40
End: 2001-08-21T15:47
Location: Utah

August 21, 2001 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A narrow and long, rope-like tornado was observed in Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area by at least 25 people. The tornado was also photographed and videotaped.

Where it happened

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Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.

A narrow and long, rope-like tornado was observed in Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area by at least 25 people. The tornado was also photographed and videotaped. An eyewitness at the Red Canyon Visitors Center said the funnel cloud initially developed nearly overhead of the visitors center and moved south, touching down about a mile south of the visitors center near USFS Road 095. The tornado traveled south along a path adjacent to USFS Road 095, crossed over the intersection of USFS Road 095 and state highway 44, and continued south up higher terrain. The tornado than made an abrupt turn towards the east and followed highway 44 where it lifted up within a half mile of the Skull Creek Campground. The tornado picked up brush, branches, and tree limbs along its path through the forested land. Some of the debris was deposited on the roads.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Grand Junction, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 21, 12:14 PM MST, 3 hours 26 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 21, 12:14 PM MST, 3 hours 26 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
114 PM MDT TUE AUG 21 2001

THIS EVENING IS LOOKING TO BE AN ACTIVE PERIOD AS AN UPPER LEVEL
TROUGH APPROACHES THE AREA. A GOOD MOIST LAYER IS IN PLACE WITH
AROUND AN INCH OF PRECIPITABLE WATER MEASURED PER THE 12Z GJT
SOUNDING. SPC HAS PUT EASTERN UTAH AND FAR WESTERN COLORADO IN
THE SLIGHT RISK AREA FOR SEVERE WINDS/LARGE HAIL AND FEEL BEST TIMING
WILL BE THIS EVENING...BEGINNING LATE AFTERNOON FOR EASTERN UTAH.
TIMING IS A BIT OFFSET FOR BEST LIFT...AS THE DIURNAL FACTOR
DECREASES AS THE DYNAMIC FACTOR INCREASES. SINCE EASTERN UTAH WILL
FEEL THE EFFECTS OF THE TROUGH EARLIEST...THAT AREA WILL SEE THE BEST
CHANCE OF SEVERE. AN AREA OF UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE MAXIMIZES AROUND
06Z OVER WESTERN COLORADO. THEREFORE EXPECT THUNDERSTORMS TO CONTINUE
PAST MIDNIGHT...WITH THE STRONGEST STORMS BETWEEN 23Z AND 06Z.

A SECONDARY WAVE IS SCHEDULED FOR WEDNESDAY...HOWEVER THIS ONE NOT AS
STRONG AND IT MOVES THROUGH BEFORE MAX HEATING.  WILL KEEP
SCATTERED...ESPECIALLY OVER THE MOUNTAIN AREAS. IN THE EVENING...WILL
LEAVE AT LEAST ISOLATED FOR THE EARLY EVENING BEFORE CLEARING. LOW
LEVEL WESTERLY FLOW WILL EFFECTIVELY DRY THE AREA OUT AFTER WEDS
WAVE. LOOK FOR TEMPS TO BE A LITTLE COOLER ON WED.

WITH THE DRIER MORE STABLE AIR MASS IN PLACE ON THU...WILL GO WITH
MOSTLY SUNNY/PARTLY CLOUDY OVER THE AREA. HOWEVER WILL MENTION
ISOLATED OVER THE MOUNTAINS FOR THE AFTERNOON.  ITS JUST TOO EASY FOR
A FEW CELLS TO POP WITH DIURNAL HEATING. HIGH TEMPS WILL REBOUND
AROUND 5 DEGREES DUE TO WARMING ALOFT AND MORE SUN. HEFFERNAN/44

EXTENDED (FRI-TUE)...THE ZONAL WEST-EAST FLOW WILL GRADUALLY BECOME
SOUTHWEST FRI...ALLOWING SUB-TROPICAL MOISTURE TO CREEP NORTH INTO
NEW MEXICO. HOWEVER...IT WILL REMAIN DRY ACROSS WESTERN CO/EASTERN
UT AT LEAST UNTIL SAT...WHEN DEEPER MOISTURE RIDES OVER THE
MOUNTAINS OF CO CREATING THE THREAT OF AFTN CONVECTION. MEANWHILE...
A NEG TILT TROF DEVELOPS FROM CA TO THE DESERT SW BY SUN BUT APPEARS
TO GET SHEARED APART OVER TIME. UPR HIGH RIDGE AXIS STRENGTHENS OVER
GREAT BASIN MON/TUE WITH WARM AND RELATIVELY DRY CONDITIONS. DIURNAL
MTN CONVECTION LOOKS TO BE MAIN STORY WITH WARM TEMPS. DJN.83

.GJT...NONE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 21, 2:34 PM MST, 1 hour 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION, CO
334 PM MDT TUE AUG 21 2001

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0325 PM    5 S MANILA                UT   1.25 INCH HAIL
08/21/01   DAGGETT                        REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT

DJN

The radar

The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 234 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:38 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Daggett

When: August 21, 3:40 PM MST to 3:47 PM MST
Where: Daggett County, 9 mi WSW of Dutch John
Rating: F0
Path length: 2 mi
Path width: 25 yd
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 40.883, -109.600

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Utah in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Utah, 2001 Warnings in Utah, August 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5264308.