SAN JUAN COUNTY, Utah – At least one tornado in Utah carved a path across the desert terrain on Saturday afternoon, prompting warnings to be issued by the National Weather Service.
The office located in Grand Junction, Colorado, issued Tornado Warnings after law enforcement reported seeing the funnel reaching the ground in the area of Montezuma Creek.
The storm that produced the twister eventually moved into Colorado, but not before damaging at least three homes, according to the Navajo Police Department.
Police advised residents to avoid the area and said troopers with the Utah Highway Patrol were also responding.
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Photos taken by law enforcement showed the twister moving through the desert terrain, a sight that is only seen around three times per year in the state.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, Utah’s dry climate and terrain generally make the region unfavorable for tornado development.
The NWS reports twisters in the state are generally smaller in size and weaker than those spotted in the Midwest or Plains.
“Utah tornadoes are usually smaller in size – often no more than 60 feet wide (at the base) – with a path length usually less than a mile and a life span of only a few seconds to a few minutes. They normally follow a path from a southwesterly to a northeasterly direction and usually precede the passage of a cold front,” NWS forecasters previously stated.
Nearly three-fourths of all tornado reports in the state occur during the months of May, June, July and August, when thunderstorms are the most frequent.
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Alongside the tornado threat, heavy rainfall also accompanied the storms, dumping several inches of rain, especially in neighboring Colorado, triggering flash flooding.
In Mesa County, the National Weather Service issued multiple Flash Flood Warnings and even a Flash Flood Emergency after radar estimated three inches of rain had fallen near Gateway, which is located near the Utah-Colorado border.
Local law enforcement in Colorado reported conducting water rescues around the State Highway 141 corridor.
As of Saturday evening, there were no reported missing people; however, the full extent of the flooding was still unknown.
Recent burn scars from half a dozen large fires, in combination with flooding from earlier in the month, have made the region more susceptible to weather events.
