Utah, 2002

Tornado in Utah, September 12, 2002

September 12, 2002 · NWS SLC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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 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 Salt Lake City, UT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 12, 9:40 AM MST, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 12, 9:40 AM MST, 3 hours 50 minutes before
UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
1040 AM MDT THU SEP 12 2002

.SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER LOW WILL SLOWLY MOVE THROUGH THE AREA TODAY
AND INTO THE PLAINS ON FRIDAY. DEEP MOISTURE WILL REMAIN OVER THE
AREA THROUGH TONIGHT WITH DRYING FROM THE NORTHWEST ON FRIDAY.

.DISCUSSION...VERY MOIST AIRMASS OVER UTAH. UPPER LOW CIRCULATION
CENTERED JUST WEST OF PRICE PER RADAR MOSAIC.  LOW TOPPED HEAVY RAIN
PRODUCING STORMS NEAR MILFORD AND FILLMORE. ONE RAWS PICKED UP .60
IN ONE HOUR NEAR FILLMORE THIS MORNING. ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH
MOST OF SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA AND EXTENDING NORTH TO COVER
THE RECENT BURN AREAS IN UTAH COUNTY.  NO FURTHER UPDATES PLANNED
THIS MORNING.

SLC 642 CDC 641  GIBSON

.SLC...FFASLC...FLASH FLOOD WATCH SOUTHWEST AND WEST-CENTRAL UTAH
       UNTIL 1000 PM.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Wayne

When
September 12, 1:30 PM MST to 1:35 PM MST
Where
Wayne County, Hanksville
Rating
F0
Path length
0.2 mi
Path width
20 yd
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
38.324, -110.904 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A small tornado (F0) was observed 20 miles southeast of Hanksville in Wayne County. It was on the ground over open country for a short time, and debris from the ground was observed rising before the funnel dissipated.

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

More

Every storm in Utah in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Utah, 2002Warnings in Utah, September 2002

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: 5325456.