The aftermath of the Davis County tornado

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A tornado struck Davis County on Friday causing damage high in the mountains.
• Jacob Badolato reported damage stretched two miles and blocked roads with fallen trees.
• Meteorologist Matt Johnson estimated the tornado's strength as EF-1 to EF-2 range.

FRUIT HEIGHTS — A tornado that moved through Davis County Friday left a trail of damage high in the mountains, according to an American Fork resident who visited the area Saturday.

Jacob Badolato, an American Fork resident and creator of Echoes Weather, said he wanted to see the aftermath for himself after hearing the tornado warning.

"Sure enough, they warn of the storm with the tornado warning. I woke up Saturday morning, and I was like, I wanted to check out the damage," he said. "I haven't been able to get to the mountains recently. It gave me a good excuse to do that."

Badolato told KSL he believes the damage stretched for roughly two miles. As he made his way through the area, fallen trees eventually stopped him from driving farther.

"From there we couldn't go any further because there were trees in the road," Badolato said. "That's where I found a guy who got stuck. He had a chainsaw and (there) was another man there helping him."

He also mentioned he encountered a couple whose vehicle was caught in the tornado. The couple was not hurt and was working to clear a path out.

Badolato said the damage he found was at an elevation that challenged a common perception about where tornadoes can occur.

"The actual spot where I found this damage was 9,000 feet in elevation. So people will tell you, 'Hey, tornadoes, they don't go up mountains. If you're in the mountains, you're safe. Well, that's not true; tornadoes can go up mountains."

KSL Meteorologist Matt Johnson also visited Middle Smith Lake to examine the aftermath.

Johnson mentioned the atmosphere became increasingly unstable around midday Friday as a low-pressure system interacted with tropical moisture over Utah.

"That's exactly what we saw," he said. "Things destabilized as we got into the lunch hour. By the time we hit 1:00, we were already seeing supercell storms, which is a fancy word for storms that are really well developed in their most mature state."

Based on the damage he observed, Johnson said the tornado appeared to fall within the EF-1 to EF-2 range. The National Weather Service is conducting an official survey to determine its strength.

Johnson said the mountainous terrain normally makes tornado development more difficult because it affects low-level winds.

"You need a lot of low-level wind to be working in the right way," he said. "The mountains really disrupt that with tornadoes, but to see it stay alive in the mountain tops was impressive."

Utah typically sees about two tornadoes a year. Johnson said at least five or six have been reported in the state so far this year.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Utah weatherUtahDavis CountyNorthern Utah

Tyrese Boone

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Tyrese Boone is a morning reporter at KSL TV. Born and raised in Beaumont, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor's degree in Digital & Print Journalism. He is passionate about community‑focused storytelling.