There have been at least 160 confirmed tornadoes in the U.S. State of Utah since 1941. On average, there are about two or three that touch down in the state, although nine touched down in 2024 and seven in both 1998 and 2025. Most tornadoes in Utah are weak and short lived. However, an EF-0 in the south-eastern most part of the state traveled on June 6, 2015, The longest tracked tornado in the state's history. Ranked in intensity using the Fujita scale or Enhanced Fujita scale, there has been one F-3 or EF-3 since 1950, this event happened August 11, 1993 in Duchesne County, Utah. There has been one deadly tornado in the state and a total of one fatality overall being the 1999 Salt Lake City tornado which killed one person.
Climatology Each year, two tornadoes touch down in Utah, most of them being weak and short lived. There were nine confirmed tornadoes in 2024, the most in a year since records started. Multiple years, most recently in 2020, had no confirmed tornadoes to touch down in the state. There is a possibility that there are more tornadoes in unpopulated areas like Central Utah. Such as Piute, Wayne, Garfield and Sevier counties as stated in a book listing all documented and undocumented tornadoes in the state.
Tornadoes
Pre–1950
May 21, 1878 – A tornado struck Salt Lake City, completely destroying a home, two people were killed and one person survived but suffered broken legs. This was the first recorded tornado to cause death in the state. May 27, 1941 – An F2 tornado tore through Davis County; barns were destroyed and a church lost its roof.
1950–1959
June 5, 1953 – A weak F0 tornado tracked through Farmington, Utah. July 14, 1953 – A brief F0 tracked near New Harmony. May 25, 1954 – A brief F1 traveled near Bear Lake on the Utah side causing little to no damage. June 1, 1955 – A short lived F1 tornado tracked near Maeser causing little damage. June 16, 1955 – Two tornadoes touched down this day, a brief, weak F0 that struck Fayette, and a strong F2 that hit the same area. August 7, 1957 – An F0 traveled near Salina causing little damage.
1960–1969
May 4, 1961 – A long tracked F2 tornado struck the small town of Green River. July 9, 1962 – An F0 traveled through rural Box Elder County. June 3, 1963 – An F2 tracked near Bountiful. August 28, 1964 – An F1 tornado started in Gunnison causing damage before crossing into Centerfield across its brief path. February 8, 1965 – Early in the year, an F2 went through Magna Causing significant damage. June 23, 1965 — An F1 touched down near the Utah-Wyoming border North-East of Woodruff. June 25, 1965 – An F0 was reported by the pilot of a aircraft about west of Salt Lake City in rural Tooele County, a touch down was observed by employees of the state highway department. July 9, 1965 – An F1 touched down in rural Utah County, South-East of Sundance Resort. August 9, 1965 – An F0 touched down south of the Bonneville Salt Flats in rural Tooele County. April 17, 1966 – An F1 caused damage in Springville. May 9, 1966 – An F0 touched down South-West of Ferron causing no damage. June 16, 1967 – An F0 traveled through rural Iron County. November 2, 1967 – A significant F2 tornado caused damage in the town of Emery. May 22, 1968 – A weak and brief F0 tornado traveled in rural Tooele County. August 14, 1968 – Three tornadoes touched down this day, the first of which being an F2 in Marriott-Slaterville, this tornado traveled through the city causing $250,000 in damage ($2.34 million in 2026) and one injury. Later in the day a brief F1 tornado touched down in downtown Salt Lake City causing $2.5k in damage ($23,365 in 2026). The last tornado of the day would be a weak F0 that traveled NW of Newton. May 31, 1969 – A brief F0 tornado would touch down in rural Wayne County.
1970–1979
April 19, 1970 – An F1 tornado traveled just SW of the town Annabella causing $250 in damages ($2,336 in 2026) and one injury. June 5, 1970 – A brief F0 tornado touched down near the Great Salt Lake in rural Box Elder County. June 10, 1970 – Two tornadoes were confirmed this day, the first being a brief F0 that touched down north of Fruit Heights. The second tornado being a much more significant but brief F2 tornado would touch down near Thompson Springs. December 2, 1970 – An F1 tornado would touch down in rural Utah County traveling and reaching a peak width of . September 2, 1971 – A brief F0 tornado would touch down on the west side of Utah Lake.
1980–1989
May 6, 1981 – An F1 tornado was observed near Newton. The tornado moved through an irrigation ditch and across a hayfield. It lifted water out of the ditch and toppled a few fence posts. No injuries or fatalities were confirmed with this event. July 24, 1981 – An F0 tornado was observed north of the Banksville airport in Wayne County by a pilot, a highway patrolman, and the weather observer. March 29, 1982 – An F0 tornado was reported by a weather observer at Milford. The tornado touched down in a sage bush causing no damage. May 3, 1982 – A brief F0 tornado touched down in rural Beaver County causing no damage. September 13, 1982 – An F0 rated waterspout over the Utah Lake moved ashore and caused damage to a small airplane at the Provo Municipal Airport. August 13, 1984 – A weak F0 tornado touched down briefly roughly south of Provo. August 15, 1984 – An F0 tornado touched down briefly about south of Manti in Sanpete County. The funnel was reported on the ground for about 5 minutes. August 16, 1984 – Two tornadoes were reported between Tremonton and Snowville near the Idaho border. both tornadoes occurred around apart from each other causing no major damage. August 19, 1984 – The fifth tornado in a week was reported in the Otter Creek area of the Parker mountains. The tornado was on the ground for 30 seconds and was rated F0. September 11, 1984 – An F0 tornado was observed near Myton causing little to no damage. May 30, 1986 – A NWS Cooperative Observer from Enterprise spotted a tornado while driving along Utah Highway 18 from Beryl Junction to Enterprise. the tornado continued southward for before lifting, the tornado would be rated F1. August 31, 1986 – A brief F0 tornado would touch down in Wayne County causing no damage. September 9, 1986 – An F0 tornado touched down briefly in the Kearns area. The funnel was only on the ground for a few seconds. May 29, 1987 – An F1 tornado touched down approximately south of the center of Lewiston. The tornado took the roof off a hay barn, turned two calf bins over, uprooted two fruit trees and a pine tree. Two other pine trees were then twisted out of the ground and dropped on a fence, the tornado caused around $5,000 in damage ($14,315 in 2026). August 25, 1987 – Two cold air funnel type tornadoes touched down briefly then immediately receded back into the clouds, these 2 tornadoes were both rated F0. May 29, 1988 – An F0 tornado was reported to have touched down and damaged a roof, a chimney, and a utility pole in Lapoint. Total damage was esimated at $3,000 ($8,248 in 2026). January 10, 1989 – An F1 tornado produced a fair amount of damage to Sandy . Significant structural damage occurred to three roofs with minor damage to three others. The tornado also tore a gapping hole in one roof. Several fences were sheared off and fence material was strewn about the city. March 2, 1989 – An F1 touched down in Magna. The tornado produced a moderate amount of damage to the neighborhood, including tearing a swamp cooler from a roof, blowing away a small shed, and breaking several windows. May 11, 1989 – A small F0 tornado touched down briefly on a runway at Hill AFB causing little to no damage. June 7, 1989 – An F0 tornado was reported south of Delta. The funnel was on the ground for approximately 3 to 4 minutes before lifting. The tornado occurred over a field and caused no damage to property. July 8, 1989 – A small F1 tornado touched down near Midvale. A semi truck was blown over, a metal building had structural damage, and the windows were blown out of a car. September 17, 1989 – A small F1 tornado destroyed a barn in northern Cache County in the town of Cornish.
1990–1999
March 23, 1990 – Several residents of Naples watched a funnel cloud touch down briefly. The tornado took the roof off of a wood shed and blew it into a trailer house. The tornado was rated F0. April 23, 1990 – An F0 tornado briefly touched down in Farr West, a subdivision northwest of Ogden. A person was thrown from a bicycle and some roof damage was reported. One person was injured in this event. July 8, 1990 – An F0 tornado was reported to have momentarily touched down on a golf course south of Roosevelt. August 16, 1990 – An F0 tornado touched down in West Valley City causing no reported damage. July 25, 1991 – A long-track F1 tornado formed near the Utah-Nevada border near the town of Erda, it traveled across and eventually became a waterspout over the Great Salt Lake before lifting. The tornado uprooted a | tall dead tree. July 26, 1991 – Strong Thunderstorms produced two tornadoes that briefly touched down before lifting. The tornadoes were observed by an Emery County Deputy Sheriff, the tornadoes caused no damage and they were both rated F0. September 7, 1991 – An F0 tornado was spotted by two people, the tornado touched down briefly. Since this tornado occurred in open country, it caused no damage. September 10, 1991 – An F0 tornado touched down in several spots in the southeast portion of Brigham City. The tornado uprooted or damaged 20 trees and destroyed a shed. May 21, 1992 – An F0 tornado was spotted in open country by a person driving south on Interstate 15. The tornado lifted within a minute without causing any damage. August 30, 1992 – An F0 tornado formed over the Salt Lake Valley. It stayed in an open field near west Kearns. August 31, 1992 – An F0 tornado touched down on the Utah-Arizona border near St. George, the tornado was on the ground very briefly and caused no damage. September 23, 1992 – An F1 tornado touched down near Syracuse damaging three properties before lifting. April 4, 1993 – An F1 tornado was seen by several people. The tornado touched down west of a restaurant. As the tornado moved toward the restaurant it tore off tree limbs, and scattered 48 to 60 pieces of plywood and 300 2-by-4's that had been lying around. An outside deck on the restaurant was damaged as the tornado went by. May 3, 1993 – An F1 tornado touched down near Erda causing $500,000 in damages ($1,374,691 in 2026). May 5, 1993 – This F0 tornado was spotted by an airplane. Because the tornado only lasted a few minutes, and was in a sparsely populated region of the state, it caused no damage. August 11, 1993 – A rare, high-altitude, intense F3 tornado moved northeastward through the Ashley National Forest in Duchesne County, Utah, producing a swath of tree damage that was at times up to a . The tornado, which touched down three times along its , destroyed 1,000 acres of forest with many trees being uprooted, with some trees that had a diameter of up to being snapped. Towards the end of the path, the tornado impacted a troop scout camp, where four vehicles were damaged by falling trees. This is the strongest tornado to ever occur in the state of Utah. November 5, 1993 – This F0 tornado was reported by a citizen near Salt Lake City. The tornado picked up some dirt while lasting only three minutes. No injuries or fatalities were confirmed with this event. July 29, 1995 – An F0 caused damage to houses in Centerville. December 5, 1995 – An F0 tornado is thought to have moved through Pleasent View. The tornado snapped a diameter tree and blew shingles off of many roofs, the tornado also damaged many windows and doors that were under construction. May 28, 1996 – A small, short-lived F0 tornado touched down southeast of Delta, it occurred in an open field with minimal damage.