The tornado that caused damage near the Nebraska-Wyoming state line injured two people, killed three horses and injured several others and caused heavy damage to buildings and equipment in the area.
The National Weather Service preliminarily has rated the June 12 tornado as an EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale with peak winds of 111-135 mph. The exact path of the tornado is still being determined, according to the NWS Cheyenne website, but it is estimated that the twister was on the ground for approximately 25 miles. The path width was 500 yards.
The twister started about 15 miles north of Torrington, Wyo., and caused damage to a ranch home and outbuildings north of Torrington. At that location, several three-quarter-ton pickups were vaulted several yards, and horse trailers were damaged when they rolled 50-100 yards. Three horses were killed and several others injured at the ranch. The NWS said one person also sustained minor head injuries in the storm.
The tornado’s northeasterly path took it across the Nebraska state line, where it struck the home of Jerry Anderson southwest of Harrison. Anderson also sustained injuries from flying debris. The air pressure in his home was so great it pushed the entire length of the east wall off the foundation six to eight inches. Five outbuildings are completely gone, another is missing its roof, the back wall of yet another was blown out and there was significant tree damage.
The Record has also had reports of four windmills torn down and pivots toppled in that area.
The EF-2 that caused the damage and injuries along the state line was one of nearly two dozen tornado sightings during the afternoon and evening hours of June 12. The NWS has called the outbreak one of the most significant occurrences of severe weather in southeastern Wyoming and the Nebraska Panhandle in 30 years. The storms, the result of a low pressure system moving across the northern Rockies, prompted the first-ever “particularly dangerous situation tornado watch” in the state of Wyoming.
Two other tornadoes preliminarily have been rated as EF-2s. A twister lasting approximately eight miles and 200 yards wide crossed into Wyoming from northern Colorado near Carpenter, Wyo., impacting four homes along County Road 151.
The third EF-2 twister was 500 yards wide and traveled roughly 39 miles in a discontinuous path northwest of Bayard to southeast of Alliance. A farmhouse northeast of Bayard was severely damaged, the NWS said. The house’s roof was taken off and exterior walls were destroyed. A detached garage was also swept clean and several trucks slid from their original position. Trees were also denuded at the homestead.
As the tornado continued, it lessened in strength, producing EF-1 damage along Highway L62A, rolling a mobile home, a semi tractor and twisting pivots. The twister finally lifted just to the west of Highway 385, but straight-line winds derailed 65 train cars north of Angora. As the storm continued to track northeast, a warehouse at the Alliance Airport sustained EF-1 tornado damage. EF-1 tornadoes have peak winds of 86-110 mph.
An EF-1 tornado struck the Chimney Rock Villa Nursing Home. The brief tornado touchdown caused damage to the roof of the facility, but it lifted quickly as the storm moved east of Bayard. Damage on the west side of Bayard and overturned pivots in the area were likely caused by straight-line winds.
A second EF-1 tornado lofted a fifth wheel horse trailer into the air for 50 yards and destroyed an outbuilding southwest of Pine Bluffs, Wyo. An EF-0 tornado, with winds of 65-85 mph, damaged center pivots northeast of Cheyenne. That twister also caused window and roof damage to a home and some minor damage to outbuildings.
The storms also brought large hail and damaging winds to the region.
by Kerri Rempp
June 21, 2017
