It's been 25 years since the fateful day of August 11, 1999 when an F2 tornado moved through Salt Lake City, killing one worker at the Outdoor Retailer Convention and leaving a surgical knife of debris and damage in the Avenues.
It is still the only tornado that I have seen in person, and I hope it stays that way. I prefer chasing powder.
The tornado missed our house at the time by about 2 blocks. My parents were visiting and my father told me he was eating lunch, looked out the window, shouted "holy sh-t a tornado" and yelled for my mom to grab my one year old son and run into the basement. There was debris on our roof, so that was a very smart move.
The best footage of the tornado was captured by the web cam operated by John Horel and the Department of Meteorology (now Atmospheric Sciences) on the roof of the Browning Building on the University of Utah Campus.
See my post from the 20th anniversary of the tornado [The Meteorology of the Salt Lake City Tornado (1999)] for a deep dive on the event.
Will never forget that crazy day!
ReplyDeleteIt is likely that events like this will become increasingly prevalent in the Salt Lake City area with the introduction of carbon dioxide induced climate change
ReplyDeleteClimate change will cause many things. I'm unaware of any study suggesting more tornadoes in northern Utah with climate change. If there was an uptick, these events are infrequent enough that I'm not sure it will be all that detectable.
DeleteChanges to the water cycle will be the agent that delivers the most severe climate impacts for utah in the form of reduced snowpack, flash flooding, and drought.
I remember watching this one form for about five minutes, then dashing outside for a clearer view near the hill in front of EMCB (now WEB) just as it touched down. I remember at the time worrying about the unprepared in its path, and I clearly remember seeing a roof in the avenues lifted up in one piece. It was surreal.
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