SAN JUAN COUNTY, Utah — Residents and visitors in southern Utah became concerned Saturday after spotting what appeared to be a tornado. According to FOX 13's meteorologists, the phenomenon was likely a landspout tornado.
Sightings of the landspout tornado occurred early Saturday afternoon in San Juan County near Verdure, between Monticello and Blanding.
At this time, there does not appear to be any damage from the landspout tornado.
A landspout tornado is a type of tornado that forms much differently than the classic tornado you’d see in Tornado Alley. Landspouts develop when winds collide at the surface and form a vortex, so the rotation begins on the ground and then ascends upward. This is the opposite of a tornado from a supercell thunderstorm. These classic tornadoes that form with supercell storms come from a cumulonimbus cloud and work their way toward the ground.
Landspout tornadoes typically aren’t on the ground for too long and are often weaker than a typical tornado you’d see with a thunderstorm, but they can still produce damage.
According to FOX 13's meteorologists, landspouts commonly form during the summer months in western states such as Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and Idaho.
Due to their weak and brief nature, these weather events often cannot be detected by radar technology, making them hard to warn.
