San Juan County, Utah • A tornado swept through San Juan County Saturday afternoon, destroying homes, trailers, and even a hay barn.
The National Weather Service said Sunday that it will take more time to confirm the strength and full path of the storm. They added that crews are surveying the area for damage in the coming days.
“As far as like the Four Corners are concerned, since about 1950, there’s only been less than half a dozen tornadoes in that area. So, this was kind of a rare event for them,” said Kris Sanders, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “It was not a weak tornado.”
NWS reported that the tornado was first spotted about 22 miles southeast of Blanding at 10 miles per hour around 1:12 p.m. Utah Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said 15 to 20 homes were in the path of the storm, three of them destroyed.
“It was about an hour in that the storm was producing tornadoes,” Sanders said. “It might have produced two in its life span that we know of.”
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