BREAKING: Utah's WIDEST tornado on record has been confirmed! The September 18, 2026 tornado was a mile-wide monster! This is the tornado that impacted Francis Peak east of Fruit Heights. The tornado produced EF2 damage, corresponding to maximum winds in the EF2 range, though individual subvortices may have contained winds teetering on EF3 strength. The tornado touched down at 1:44 p.m. near Bair Canyon at 6,000 feet elevation. It felled numerous softwood conifers and hardwood aspen groves. Then it summited Francis Peak and entered Morgan county, causing EF2 damage to conifers. Some trees were "either sheared off completely at the top of the tree or snapped at the base," according to the Weather Service. At this point, the tornado was near 9,500 elevation! Near Middle Smith Lake, the tornado began to descend in elevation. As it approached Dalton Creek, it swelled to 1.1 miles wide – a new state record for Utah! When a column of vorticity, or spin, travels downhill, it's usually stretched and intensified. Perhaps this aided in the tornado ingesting more inflow and expanding. The exact mechanisms remain unclear and will undoubtedly be the subject of further study. At 2 p.m., the tornado dissipated where Middle Fork Peterson Creek meets Left Hand Fork Peterson Creek. That was at 6,200 feet elevation. All told, the tornado had a total elevation change (up and down) of 6,700 feet! The Weather Service also noted that many of the trees felled were 100-200 years old. Tornadoes can and DO happen in mountains. The highest elevation tornado recorded in the United States occurred in Colorado in the West Elk Mountains on May 29, 2021 at a height of 12,600 feet. And on December 27, 2022, a tornado impacted neighborhood near the airport in El Alto, Bolivia (I've been there!). That's 13,327 feet above sea level! El Alto Airport serves the greater La Paz metro area, which is the highest Administrative capital city in the world. (The steep terrain also prevents a train-based metro system, so the entire city is interconnected via a network of teleféricos, or chairlifts!(