Rare tornadoes destroy several homes in southeastern Utah

Tornadoes destroyed several homes in southeastern Utah over the weekend, but authorities said there were no reports of people injured.

A storm produced two tornadoes in San Juan County in southeastern Utah over the span of an hour, starting around 12:35 p.m. Saturday, according to meteorologist Kris Sanders with the National Weather Service’s office in Grand Junction, Colorado.

The paths of the tornadoes that touched down near Montezuma Creek likely covered less than 10 miles (16 kilometers), but the weather service hadn’t yet determined their exact tracks or wind speeds, Sanders said by telephone. A survey may be conducted on Monday, he said Sunday.

Three homes in the area were demolished in the storm, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said in a social media post. The 27,000-square-mile (70,000-square-kilometer) reservation stretches into Arizona, New Mexico and Utah and is the largest of any Native American tribe.

No injuries were reported, but an unknown number of livestock and pets were reported missing, the Navajo Police Department said in a social media post. Images posted by the department showed the towering column of a tornado surrounded by dark clouds and also a flattened home surrounded by debris.

Tornadoes are pretty unusual in that part of Utah, Sanders said, noting that the weather service had only confirmed two there since 1950.