GOSHEN COUNTY – Amid trips to local cemeteries, barbecues and picnics across Goshen County on Memorial Day, another round of powerful storms brewed, waiting to strike the area with a potential for damaging winds, large hail and flash flooding.
At 1:30 p.m. on Monday, the National Weather Service in Cheyenne warned of a “slight to enhanced risk of severe storms” for a large area of southeast Wyoming, including Goshen County, citing hazards as tennis-ball sized hail, wind gusts more than 60 mph, possible tornadoes and heavy rainfall leading to localized flash flooding.
NWS soon issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the region, followed by a radar update at 4:10 p.m., which explained storms were beginning to increase in coverage and strength. A portion of Goshen County – to the northwest of Torrington – was placed under a severe thunderstorm warning for quarter-sized hail and 60-mph winds until 5:45 p.m. Monday evening. Shortly after, southern Goshen County, including LaGrange and Hawk Springs, also fell under threat of a severe thunderstorm warning until 7:15 p.m.
Storms weakened by late Monday night and local warnings expired.
“We fared pretty good,” Goshen County Emergency Management Coordinator Shelly Kirchhefer said, adding there were reports of standing water on the road in northern Goshen County, but the roads were not washed out as of last she heard. “The whole county got some pretty good moisture. We received anywhere from half an inch of rain to two-and-a-half inches. There were no tornadoes, no hail damage that was reported – just a lot of water in the northern part of the county again.”
Looking ahead, NWS predicts a warming trend beginning Wednesday, with “a lower coverage of thunderstorms for the end of the week.”
