JACKSON, Wyo. — A severe wind event recorded in Teton Canyon (near Alta) earlier this month has been classified as a tornado, only the third to hit the region since records began in 1950, according to a Friday announcement by Teton County.
The tornado touched down around 1:35 p.m. on Oct. 15, remaining on the ground for about 2 minutes, per the National Weather Service’s Riverton office. The path of the EF-1 tornado (using the Enhanced Fujita Scale of tornado intensity) was approximately 1 mile long and up to 125 yards wide, with peak winds estimated between 87 and 104 mph.
“Hundreds of trees were uprooted or snapped in a section of the Caribou–Targhee National Forest near Alta, Wyoming,” the County’s announcement reads. “The storm damage began around 7,900 feet in elevation and ended near 6,900 feet. Caribou–Targhee National Forest crews cleared fallen trees to reopen roads and trails in the area, helping motorists and hikers who were briefly trapped in Teton Canyon. Drone imagery collected by the Teton County Wyoming Sheriff’s Office and satellite comparisons from before and after the storm helped confirm the tornado’s track and intensity.”
The County shared that the Oct. 15 event marks the third tornado on record in Teton County, preceded by these two events:
- July 21, 1987 – Teton–Yellowstone Tornado (F4): Among the highest-elevation tornadoes ever recorded in the United States, this F4 storm remains the strongest in Wyoming history. It tracked across the Teton Wilderness and Yellowstone National Park, damaging thousands of acres of forest with estimated peak winds between 207 and 260 mph.
- June 12, 2022 – Gros Ventre Range Tornado (EF-2): A high-elevation tornado near Crystal Creek Campground northeast of Jackson with peak winds near 130 mph. It traveled about two miles through remote mountain terrain. Following the June 12 storm, the Bridger–Teton National Forest temporarily closed Crystal Creek Campground due to downed trees and hazard conditions.
“Tornadoes remain extremely rare in Teton County, and three documented events are not enough to indicate any measurable trend,” the County’s announcement states. “However, studying each occurrence helps improve local hazard mitigation, debris management, and emergency planning. The collaborative effort between federal and county agencies continues to strengthen understanding of how high-elevation wind events behave in mountain terrain.”
