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Except for a few big, billowy clouds on the western horizon, the sky over the Salt Lake Temple was clear and blue on Aug. 11, 1999, as a photographer snapped pictures of newlyweds Kristina and Jaron Moore.

Just west of the temple in a gigantic exhibit tent, 38-year-old Allen Crandy, of Las Vegas, skipped lunch to make sure the booths he helped build for the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market looked their best.

Meanwhile, forecasters at the National Weather Service office scanned radar images showing a thunderstorm moving into the Salt Lake Valley.

But nobody, not even the forecasters, expected what happened next.

Small eddies of wind over the Great Salt Lake were about to collide with strong southerly winds in the Salt Lake Valley at the same time a powerful thunderstorm was forming above them. The result was a powerful tornado.

As the twister began its nearly 4-mile, 10-minute rampage through the heart of downtown Salt Lake City, the Moores were sitting down to a wedding lunch at the Inn at Temple Square, where the power didn't even go out. Crandy was killed when the tent collapsed. Amazingly, he would be the only fatality in one of Utah's most devastating weather events, a storm that injured more than 80 others, left 34 homes uninhabitable, destroyed 500 trees and caused more than $170 million in damage.

If it were to happen again, the lessons learned should allow more warning time and produce a more coordinated response.

An unexpected event » Larry Dunn, then the science and operations officer for the weather service, said he knew "something special" was developing, but he didn't expect a tornado.

He wasn't alone.

Twisters are rare in the Beehive State. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), Utah has one of the lowest incidences of tornadoes in the nation, averaging only about two a year with only one ever recorded stronger than the 1999 tornado, rated F2, that packed winds of between 113 to 157mph. That 1993 tornado also touched down on Aug. 11, in a remote part of the High Uintas.

"We were thinking we kind of had a fair handle on putting out warnings for the strong thunderstorms we saw developing," recalled NWS forecaster Pete Wilensky who was working on Aug. 11, 1999. "We had reports of hail over an inch in diameter falling in Herriman a few minutes earlier and a new cell was developing in the northern part of Salt Lake City. We were going to issue a warning on that when the news came via a phone call for us to turn on the television."

The forecasters were taken aback when they viewed live pictures of a tornado making its 10-minute run through the heart of Salt Lake City between 12:45 and 12:55 p.m.

"We had no lead time on the tornado," Wilensky said. "We expected severe weather and had issued a severe thunderstorm warning, but we were not anticipating a tornado. We were not pleased that we had missed a tornado warning for the most visible place in the whole state -- downtown Salt Lake City. It was an uncomfortable situation."

What made forecasting the tornado difficult was the fact that, unlike most of the more common Midwestern classic twisters, which develop from rotation in a thunderstorm and descend downward, the Salt Lake funnel cloud started from the ground up.

According to Randy Graham, of the NWS Salt Lake City office, that scenario doesn't give forecasters much time to assess the potential development of a tornado (see box).

He explained that small circulations are present along wind shift lines, like eddies around rocks in a stream. When a strong thunderstorm updraft develops above one of these circulations, it can be stretched vertically into the updraft. As it's stretched, it begins to spin faster in much the same way an ice skater begins rotating faster as she moves her hands above her head.

While the Salt Lake NWS office uses the same radar in place in 1999, the displays offer more details and more frequent updates. Graham said radar capabilities have doubled since the tornado, allowing forecasters to see more of what is going on in the Salt Lake Valley below 10,000 feet. Data is higher resolution, which allows scientists to see more detail in thunderstorms and winter storms. The rate at which radar data can be seen has increased, allowing for more frequent updates. Forecasters also have access to the Doppler radar system used by the Federal Aviation Administration at the Salt Lake International Airport, 20 miles north of Salt Lake City.

Weaknesses in response » The 1999 tornado also revealed weaknesses in Utah law enforcement coordination and communication.

Cory Lyman, now director of emergency management for Salt Lake City, was a lieutenant on the city's police force in charge of communications when the twister touched down.

"I was talking to our radio shop guys on the ninth floor of our building when a technician said there was a tornado," he remembered. "My reaction was 'sure there is' and we kept doing what we were doing. I walked down the hall to an office and it was packed with people looking out the window who had a perfect view of the tornado as it tracked. I saw the aftermath and the 911 calls started."

Salt Lake City police officers immediately put together two incident command centers, one near the Outdoor Retailer Show where the twister leveled two tents, and the other near the Avenues where much of the other major damage occurred.

"This was something we thought we were immune to in Utah," said Lyman, echoing a common theme. "It was not high on our radar as something to prepare for."

Two major problems manifested themselves, both related to the lack of a unified response between various law enforcement and fire departments rushing to the scene. Multiple command centers were established by different agencies, such as the Utah Highway Patrol, Salt Lake City Police Department and Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, as well as the fire department.

That caused confusion. For example, a life flight helicopter was cleared by two agencies to land in two different places. One agency wanted a tree removal company to get to the state Capitol quickly while the other, not knowing about that request, closed the road.

Allyson Jackson, regional general manager for The Salt Palace, ran from her office, grabbed a bullhorn and stationed herself at 200 West and South Temple to keep people away from pavilions leveled by the storm. She said a police officer asked her what he should do.

Lyman said responders were "within the same few blocks operating independently of each other," said Lyman. "Everybody's intentions and actions were good but confusion is not good."

Radio systems proved problematic, with firefighters and law enforcement officers from the city, county and state all on different frequencies, making it difficult for them to communicate.

The end result was a new radio system that allows all law enforcement officers in the valley to communicate with each other. It also created a better command structure to deal with future emergencies, Lyman said.

As they prepare to celebrate their 10th anniversary, Kristina and Jaron Moore have few special plans. They said friends tend to remember to congratulate them because the tornado makes their wedding day easy to remember.

"I focus more on the wedding," said Kristina, now the mother of two children. "The tornado just happened that day. The biggest thing is that when the tornado touched down and people said to get away from the windows, I remember looking for my husband. That was my first concern. Those feelings come back of finding my husband [that day] and making sure he was safe."

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