National Weather Service confirms tornado touched down near Bone Sunday

IDAHO FALLS — The National Weather Service has confirmed a tornado touched down in the Bone area during a series of storms Sunday.

After surveying the area, meteorologists couldn’t find any major damage from the tornado, however, radar, visual evidence, and photographs confirm the twister occurred about four miles southeast of Bone at around 3:48 p.m.

Radar shows the tornado traveled northeast over open range land for about a mile before dissipating around 4 p.m. near the Bonneville County line, according to an NWS report.

The tornado was on the ground for about 12 minutes total, and remained small. It was rated an EF0 with winds of 65 to 70 miles per hour. An EF0 tornado is the lowest rated tornado, indicating minimal damage and winds beneath 85 mph.

Several other funnel clouds were reported Sunday near Fort Hall and the Idaho/Utah border, although there is no evidence they touched down. A funnel cloud needs to touch the ground to be considered a tornado.

This is the second confirmed tornado in eastern Idaho in recent memory. On May 26, an EF0 tornado touched down in the Moreland area at about 2 p.m. The Idaho State Journal reports it uprooted several trees and smashed a greenhouse.

Neither tornado caused any injuries.