Davis County Tornado

Two tornado reports in Utah yesterday. That fills out yearly quota of tornadoes. One happened in southern Utah near Panguich. Another tornado touched down in Davis County on September 22, 2016 just before 7:00 PM. It caused a lot of property damage and knocked out a lot of power. The following morning, storm related power outages delayed the Frontrunner train and it took me an extra hour to get to work.

More on KSL: http://www.ksl.com/?sid=41582818&

Above is the TDWR radial velocity scan about 15 minutes after the tornado hit Washington Terrace on Sep. 22nd. Full wind barbs are 2 ms-1 and a flag is 10 ms-1. (Scans during the tornado are unavailable because the radar was only scanning the airport at the time.) You can see the rotation just to the north where the pocket of red is located. Red is wind blowing away from the radar, green is wind blowing towards the radar.

Tornado Reports (CSV) (Raw Tornado CSV)(?)
Time		Location	County	State	Lat	Lon	Comments
2145		1 W SOUTH OGDEN	WEBER	UT	4117	11198	TORNADO BRIEFLY TOUCHED DOWN IN WASHINGTON TERRACE (SLC)
0054		PANGUITCH	GARFIELD	UT	3782	11244	EF1 TORNADO CONFIRMED IN PANGUITCH. MAXIMUM WINDS ESTIMATED TO BE 110 MPH WITH A MAXIMUM DAMAGE WIDTH OF 25 YARDS. (SLC)
Hail Reports (CSV) (Raw Hail CSV)(?)
Time	Size	Location	County	State	Lat	Lon	Comments
2137	175	9 WSW WEST POINT	DAVIS	UT	4106	11224	60 MPH WINDS IN ADDITION TO THE HAIL.(SLC)
2145	100	CLEARFIELD	DAVIS	UT	4110	11202	(SLC)
Wind Reports (CSV) (Raw Wind CSV)(?)
Time	Speed	Location	County	State	Lat	Lon	Comments
1855	61	WENDOVER	TOOELE	UT	4074	11402	(SLC)
1950	61	CLIVE	TOOELE	UT	4068	11308	(SLC)
2040	60	26 WSW DUGWAY	TOOELE	UT	4010	11322	TARGET R MESONET STATION (SLC)
2045	63	10 S LAKESIDE	BOX ELDER	UT	4106	11289	LAKESIDE MOUNTAIN MESONET STATION (SLC)
2055	62	5 NNW DUGWAY	TOOELE	UT	4030	11278	CEDAR MOUNTAIN MESONET SITE (SLC)
2100	69	18 ESE LAKESIDE	BOX ELDER	UT	4107	11259	HAT ISLAND MESONET SITE (SLC)
2115	61	5 NE VERNON	TOOELE	UT	4013	11238	VERNON HILL MESONET SITE (SLC)
2115	UNK	LAYTON	DAVIS	UT	4108	11196	TWO LARGE TREES REPORTED DOWN IN LAYTON. ONE SNAPPED OFF AND ONE UPROOTED. (SLC)
2115	81	SOUTH OGDEN	WEBER	UT	4117	11196	(SLC)
2115	61	15 W WEST WARREN	BOX ELDER	UT	4126	11244	PROMONTORY POINT MESONET SITE (SLC)
2120	60	4 NNE STANSBURY PARK	TOOELE	UT	4069	11227	LAKE POINT I-80 MESONET SITE (SLC)
2123	75	13 SSW SYRACUSE	DAVIS	UT	4093	11216	REPORT IS FROM UNIVERSITY OF UTAH SENSOR NEAR ANTELOPE ISLAND (SLC)
2130	69	11 W HOOPER	WEBER	UT	4115	11233	REPORT FROM FREMONT ISLAND MESONET SITE(SLC)
2150	60	WNW FARMINGTON	DAVIS	UT	4099	11190	MESONET SITE AT US-89 AND PARK LANE(SLC)
2150	59	5 NE LAYTON	WEBER	UT	4114	11189	WEBER CANYON POWER PLANT MESONET SITE(SLC)
2200	59	4 NW MAGNA	SALT LAKE	UT	4075	11213	CENTER TAILINGS MESONET SITE (SLC)
2200	59	6 ESE OGDEN	MORGAN	UT	4119	11187	SNOWBASIN - STRAWTOP SENSOR - 8999 FEET(SLC)
2200	59	5 ENE SOUTH OGDEN	WEBER	UT	4120	11186	SNOWBASIN WILDCAT SENSOR - 77703 FEET(SLC)
2200	101	5 ESE OGDEN	WEBER	UT	4120	11188	OGDEN PEAK SENSOR - 9570 FEET (SLC)
2200	58	3 SSW HUNTSVILLE	WEBER	UT	4122	11180	TRAPPERS LOOP ROAD MESONET SITE (SLC)

Gust Front

I was walking with some friends to the BYU vs Texa football game when my friend pointed to the sky and asked, "What is that?" I looked and responded calmly, "That is a thundercloud." Seconds later we were blown over by a strong gust front. If you haven't noticed yet by the color of the sky, a gust front is usually a good indicator that a big storm is headed your way. Below is a picture of a typical mature thunderstorm. The gust front is located at the front of the approaching storm.

From: http://www.cmos.ca/ProjectAtmosphere/module1_hazardous_weather_e.html

Everyone walking to Lavell Edwards Stadium for the BYU vs Texas football game experienced this very strong wind. Leaves were blowing off trees, we were being hit by pine cones, and I even saw the roofing shingles of an apartment building blow off the top in one piece. What a mess that made. Looking at the vector wind data from the weather station on BYU's campus, can you pick out the time the leading edge of the gust front passed through Provo? Yep, it was around 4:00 PM (16:00).

Here is a view of the storm from the stadium. A friend saving us seat took this picture right as the gust front was blowing.

Picture by A. Reed

As the gust front blew I mentioned to my friend, "Oh, and it'll start raining really hard in the next five minutes." Sure enough, the rain down poured. We ran to the nearest building, a Jamba Juice, for shelter. The rain rained for a long time.   Anxious to get to the football game, the Jamba Juice workers kindly gave us some trash bags. We cut face holes in the bottom and wore them like wedding veils.

Making out way towards the stadium it seemed the game was already over. Everyone dripping wet, and walking back to their cars and apartments. The game was delayed for lightning.

Provo measured 0.76 inches of rain during this period. Doesn't sound like a ton, but considering the short time it caused some minor flooding. The storm drains couldn't handle that much water in that short a period.

Eventually we the rain stopped and people filled the stadium. BYU played very well and pulled out with a win against the Texas Longhorns: 40-21.

Below is the ESPN time-lapse video of rainstorm that caused a two-hour rain delay.