Tornado confirmed nearBone on Sunday

UPDATE 6/3/19 6:15 p.m. The National Weather Service has confirmed a tornado occurred near Bone on Sunday.

The National Weather Service in Pocatello performed a damage survey Monday around the Bone area of eastern Idaho. While no explicit damage was found, radar signatures, visual evidence and photographs from the area confirm a tornado occurred about 4 miles south-southeast of Bone.

According to radar data and early photographs, the tornado began around 3:48 p.m. near Willow Creek
east of Long Valley Road. The tornado then tracked northeast over open range land for about a mile.

According to radar, the tornado then diminished around 4:00 p.m. near the Bonneville County Line. The tornado’s path was approximately one mile and was on the ground for around 12 minutes.

A damage survey was conducted, including traveling the limited accessible roads in the area. The area where the damage would have occurred is dominated by open rangeland with a lot of juniper and sage.

Damage that would have occurred in this area would have been light and of minor impact.

Based on the radar and limited damage information, this tornado is rated a low-end EF-0 with winds 65-70 miles per hour.

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The National Weather Service issued two tornado warnings in areas of Bingham and Bonneville counties on Sunday afternoon.

The alert went into effect around 4 p.m. and was allowed to expire at 4:30 p.m.

The National Warning Service says, “The storm near Bone which prompted the warning has weakened below severe limits, and no longer appears capable of producing a tornado. Therefore, the warning will be allowed to expire.”

KIFI Chief Meteorologist Michael Coats says, this was a small rope tornado.

Several viewers across the area have reported seeing the funnel clouds and sent in pictures/videos. There have been no reports of damage.