Tornadoes · United States · Utah · 2010

EF0 tornado, (Puc)Carbon Co Arpt, Utah, July 26, 2010

This EF0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Carbon County on July 26, 2010, touching down at 3:45 PM MDT and reaching 15 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $25,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. EF2111 to 135 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. EF5over 200 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
July 26, 2010
Touchdown
3:45 PM MDT (21:45 UTC)
Lifted
3:50 PM MDT (21:50 UTC)
On the ground
5 minutes
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
15 yards (14 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$25,000
County
Carbon County
Touchdown point
39.540, -110.740
Lift-off point
39.539, -110.738
Record number
1007261545-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Thunderstorms continued across Utah, leading to more flash flooding in southern Utah, as well as an EF0 tornado near Wellington.

A tornado touched down near Wellington, with multiple members of the public seeing the tornado and taking pictures. The tornado damaged a trailer, rolling it over onto its side, and uprooted a few large trees.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, 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 tornado touched down at Jul 26, 2:15 PM MDT, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 26, 2:15 PM MDT, 1 hour 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
215 PM MDT MON JUL 26 2010

.SYNOPSIS...SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL BRING MOISTURE INTO NORTHERN UTAH
TODAY. A MOIST AIRMASS WILL REMAIN IN PLACE OVER THE ENTIRE AREA
THROUGH THE REST OF THE WEEK.

&&

.DISCUSSION...THE MONSOONAL SURGE CONTINUES TO ADVANCE ACROSS THE
CWA THIS AFTERNOON. SHEAR AND MOISTURE ARE DISPLACED ACROSS THE
AREA...WITH THE BEST SHEAR IN THE AREAS WITH THE LEAST MOISTURE.
IN ADDITION...A BOUNDARY MOVED THROUGH PORTIONS OF NORTHERN UTAH
THIS MORNING INTO EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. CLOUDY AND SOMEWHAT STABLE
CONDITIONS WILL LIKELY HOLD OFF MUCH CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT ACROSS
NORTHWESTERN PORTIONS OF THE STATE.

ACROSS THE SOUTH...SLOW MOVING CONVECTION CONTINUES TO DEVELOP.
ONE PARTICULARLY SLUGGISH STORM DEVELOPED OVER RED CANYON IN SOUTH
CENTRAL UTAH BRINGING A QUICK 3 TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN IN A FEW
HOURS. THESE SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO BE A
THREAT ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE STATE...WITH LOCALIZED
FLASH FLOODING A THREAT IN ANY OF THE SLOWER AND HEAVIER
THUNDERSTORMS. SHORT TERM ENSEMBLE GUIDANCE SUGGESTS MUCAPE
NEARING 1000 J/KG OVER SOUTHEASTERN UTAH THIS AFTERNOON...SO EVEN
WITH A LACK OF SHEAR...A FEW BRIEFLY ORGANIZED THUNDERSTORMS MAY
FORM...WITH SMALL HAIL...STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS...AND HEAVY
RAINFALL BEING THE MAIN THREATS.

THE MONSOONAL SURGE CONTINUES OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS WITH FLASH
FLOODING A CONCERN THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

&&

.AVIATION...THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN ACROSS THE SALT LAKE VALLEY
THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING. THERE IS A 60 PERCENT CHANCE OF
GUSTY AND ERRATIC WINDS AT THE TERMINAL DUE TO THESE THUNDERSTORMS
FROM MAINLY 23 THROUGH 04Z.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...THE WESTERN PORTION OF FIRE ZONE 420 HAS HAD AN
INCREASE IN LOW LEVEL MOISTURE DUE TO THE RAIN COOLED AIR MASS OVER
CENTRAL NEVADA SPILLING INTO THAT PORTION OF THE STATE. ALTHOUGH DRY
LIGHTNING IS LESS LIKELY THERE...A GENERAL AREA OF LOW RELATIVE
HUMIDITY STILL EXISTS FROM NORTHERN PORTION OF FIRE ZONE 435
NORTHWARD TO THE IDAHO BORDER. RHS IN THIS SWATH ARE BETWEEN 13 AND
20 PERCENT. THEREFORE ANY HIGH BASED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THIS AREA
WILL LIKELY PRODUCE LITTLE IF ANY PRECIPITATION THROUGH EARLY THIS
EVENING BEFORE THE DEEPER MOISTURE ADVANCES NORTHWARD.  THEREFORE
THE THREAT OF DRY LIGHTNING REMAINS INTO THIS EVENING. ALL
THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD QUICKLY TRANSITION TO WET BY TUESDAY AS
MOISTURE CONTINUES TO INCREASE. THIS DEEPER MOISTURE LOOKS TO REMAIN
IN PLACE ACROSS THE STATE THROUGH THE WEEK.

&&

.SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
UT...RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 10 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR UTZ433>435.

     RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 10 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR UTZ420>425.

WY...NONE.
&&

KRUSE/STRUTHWOLF

FOR MORE INFORMATION FROM NOAA/S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE VISIT...
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/SALTLAKECITY (ALL LOWER CASE)

FOR FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
VISIT...
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/SALTLAKECITY/GENERAL/AFD_FAQS.PHP (ALL LOWER CASE)
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 26, 6:14 AM MDT, 9 hours 31 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
614 AM MDT MON JUL 26 2010

UTZ001>016-019>021-517-518-WYZ021-271215-
CACHE VALLEY/UTAH PORTION-NORTHERN WASATCH FRONT-
SALT LAKE AND TOOELE VALLEYS-SOUTHERN WASATCH FRONT-
GREAT SALT LAKE DESERT AND MOUNTAINS-WASATCH MOUNTAIN VALLEYS-
WASATCH MOUNTAINS I-80 NORTH-WASATCH MOUNTAINS SOUTH OF I-80-
WESTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS-WASATCH PLATEAU/BOOK CLIFFS-
WESTERN UINTA BASIN-CASTLE COUNTRY-SAN RAFAEL SWELL-
SANPETE/SEVIER VALLEYS-WEST CENTRAL UTAH-SOUTHWEST UTAH-
UTAHS DIXIE AND ZION NATIONAL PARK-SOUTH CENTRAL UTAH-
GLEN CANYON RECREATION AREA/LAKE POWELL-CENTRAL MOUNTAINS-
SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS-SOUTHWEST WYOMING-
614 AM MDT MON JUL 26 2010

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE WESTERN TWO THIRDS OF
UTAH AND FAR SOUTHWEST WYOMING.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A MOIST AIRMASS WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE ENTIRE OUTLOOK AREA TODAY
AND TONIGHT. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOME SCATTERED
ACROSS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE INTO THIS EVENING.

STORMS OVER THE NORTH AND WEST WILL GENERATE STRONG MICROBURST
WINDS AND DRY LIGHTNING...RESULTING IN HAZARDOUS FIRE WEATHER
CONDITIONS.

HEAVY RAIN IS POSSIBLE WITH STORMS ACROSS THE FAR SOUTH...WITH A
THREAT OF LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

THE MOIST AIRMASS WILL REMAIN IN PLACE THROUGH MOST OF THE
WEEK...RESULTING IN SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EACH
DAY...MAINLY IN THE AFTERNOONS AND EVENINGS.

HEAVY RAIN...ALONG WITH A THREAT OF FLASH FLOODING...WILL BE
POSSIBLE WITH STORMS OVER SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL UTAH TUESDAY.
THE HEAVY RAIN THREAT WILL SPREAD INTO THE NORTHERN OUTLOOK AREA
WEDNESDAY AND THEN CONTINUE ACROSS ALL OF THE OUTLOOK AREA INTO
THE LATTER PART OF THE WEEK.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

FOR MORE INFORMATION FROM NOAA/S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE VISIT...
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/SALTLAKECITY (ALL LOWER CASE)

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 26, 2:33 PM MDT, 1 hour 12 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
233 PM MDT MON JUL 26 2010

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0231 PM     FLASH FLOOD      5 N MARYSVALE           38.51N 112.26W
07/26/2010                   PIUTE              UT   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            MUD FLOWING ACROSS US-89 IN MARYSVILLE CANYON NEAR BIG
            ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN. SEVERAL VEHICLES STUCK IN MUD AND
            ALL TRAFFIC BLOCKED.

&&

CRK
Special weather statement, Jul 26, 2:52 PM MDT, 53 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
252 PM MDT MON JUL 26 2010

UTZ012-013-262115-
CASTLE COUNTRY UT-SAN RAFAEL SWELL UT-
252 PM MDT MON JUL 26 2010

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTHERN CARBON AND NORTHERN
EMERY COUNTIES UNTIL 315 PM MDT...

AT 250 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES NORTHEAST OF HUNTINGTON...OR 15 MILES
SOUTH OF PRICE...MOVING NORTH AT 20 MPH.

PENNY TO NICKEL SIZE HAIL AND WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 55 MPH ARE EXPECTED
WITH THIS STORM.

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
   WELLINGTON...
   CLEVELAND...
   ELMO...

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA...TAKE SHELTER IN A
STURDY BUILDING.

LAT...LON 3926 11074 3929 11096 3963 11091 3954 11050
TIME...MOT...LOC 2052Z 190DEG 18KT 3939 11082

LC
Local storm report, Jul 26, 2:59 PM MDT, 46 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
259 PM MDT MON JUL 26 2010

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0230 PM     FLASH FLOOD      9 SE PANGUITCH          37.74N 112.31W
07/26/2010                   GARFIELD           UT   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

            MUD AND DEBRIS ACROSS SR-12 NEAR MILEPOST 4. TIME OF
            EVENT IS APPROXIMATE.

&&

CRK
Local storm report, Jul 26, 3:05 PM MDT, 40 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
305 PM MDT MON JUL 26 2010

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0230 PM     FLASH FLOOD      9 SE PANGUITCH          37.74N 112.31W
07/26/2010                   GARFIELD           UT   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

            2 FEET OF MUD AND GRAVEL DEBRIS ACROSS SR-12 NEAR
            MILEPOST 4. ROAD IS IMPASSABLE. TIME OF EVENT IS
            APPROXIMATE.

&&

CRK
Local storm report, Jul 26, 3:15 PM MDT, 30 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
315 PM MDT MON JUL 26 2010

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0230 PM     FLASH FLOOD      7 SE PANGUITCH          37.75N 112.36W
07/26/2010                   GARFIELD           UT   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

            1 FOOT OF WATER ACROSS SR-12 AT MILEPOST 1. EVENT TIME IS
            APPROXIMATE.

&&

CRK
Special weather statement, Jul 26, 3:22 PM MDT, 23 minutes before
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The surface observations

Price/Carbon(Ramos) (PUC), 8 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
00:00 UTC

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 224 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:46 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2010 tornado in UtahEvery tornado in Utah since 1950Warnings in force in Utah nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of July 26, 2010

9 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 265:38 PM MDTEF0Slope, ND5.330
July 266:50 PM CDTEF0Burke, ND0.825
July 267:05 PM CDTEF1Davidson, TN0.550$200,000
July 267:00 PM MDTEF3Sheridan, MT18.088021$300,000
July 268:13 PM CDTEF0McHenry, ND2.830$30,000
July 269:38 PM EDTEF0Surry, NC1.8100$30,000
July 269:17 PM CDTEF0Cavalier, ND4.940
July 2610:10 PM CDTEF0Benson, ND2.720
July 2612:30 AM CDTEF2Barnes, ND13.8500$1.0 million

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.