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Homes were damaged by a tornado in northern Arizona

Up to 10 homes were damaged by a low-level tornado Monday in northern Arizona.

The National Weather Service said a strong line of thunderstorms hit northwestern Coconino County around 1:30 p.m.

County officials said 8 to 10 homes were damaged in the Junipine Estates community located 8 miles north of Williams, which is 33 miles west of Flagstaff. Numerous other structures and trees were damaged in the EF-1 twister because of winds up to 100 mph, according to the weather agency.

Bianca Feldkircher is the lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Phoenix. She says that while it is easier for this kind of storm to form in northern Arizona, some of that activity is moving south.

"A lot of the metro has seen at least 30 to 60 mph wind gusts. This has caused a lot of blowing dust. We’ve had multiple reports of visibilities reduced below a quarter mile, even to just yards, of feet, in front of someone," said Feldkircher.

Feldkicher says drivers should check conditions and if they must be on the road, proceed with caution.

Since 2000, there have been nearly 100 tornados reported in Arizona, and the state averages about four per year, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. There have been three other confirmed tornadoes in 2022, all reported in June.

KJZZ's Sky Schaudt and Associated Press contributed to this report.

Kirsten Dorman is a field correspondent at KJZZ. Born and raised in New Jersey, Dorman fell in love with audio storytelling as a freshman at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in 2019.