SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Sunday will mark the 25th anniversary of one of the most historic weather events in Utah history: On Aug. 11, 1999, the sky above Utah took on an eerie darkness as a tornado formed and touched down in the heart of Salt Lake City.
ABC4 had a news crew that happened to catch the funnel as it hit, and ABC4’s Craig Wirth was downtown when it happened.
On Aug. 11, 1999, 90 of the Utah State Capitol’s trees were destroyed in just nine minutes by the historic tornado. Before the tornado, you could hardly see the capitol building from the grounds because of its famous trees.
The city lost between 300 and 500 trees in total and saw $150 million in damage. President Clinton and the federal government declared the city a disaster area.
The tornado made the news in Canada and Los Angeles, as well as places that knew a thing or two about tornadoes, such as the heart of Kansas.
Before the tornado hit, golf-ball-sized hail had dropped in Herriman, and the weather was getting worse. ABC4 photographer Kevin Bond began filming the sky and captured the tornado ripping through downtown.
Citizens flooded 911 with calls of the tornado as it kept swirling, gathering up pieces of buildings and windows and tossing them around.
People who were at the LDS church’s Salt Lake City Temple for a wedding huddled together and watched as the tornado skipped them — and cleared Temple Square.
The tornado was followed by rain, and it hit the Avenues, Memory Grove, and the Capitol — and then the funnel cloud disappeared again into the sky.
One building that was destroyed by the tornado was the Sun Bar, but there was no one in it at the time. The Delta Center lost part of its roof and several windows, as did the Wyndham Hotel. The storm killed Allen Crandy, 38, who was supervising the set-up of a booth at an outdoor retailers show.
The Avenues neighborhood was a mess, but people were alive — and knew their homes could be replaced.
“The sun is shining, we are alive,” one resident said in 1999. “We can start from there.”
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