GOSHEN COUNTY – A large, late summer storm tore through Goshen County on Tuesday afternoon, giving birth to a confirmed tornado north of Fort Laramie, an eyewitness report of a rope tornado near Chugwater and instances of softball-sized hail.
Rob Cox, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Cheyenne, said the tornado north of Fort Laramie touched down around 3:15 p.m. and tracked east.
“We’re aware of a long track tornado that went north of Fort Laramie,” Cox said. “From what I understand, that touched down at about 3:15 or so, and it basically tracked eastward. I’m not sure of the exact length of the track at this point.”
Cox said the NWS was going to conduct a damage survey Wednesday morning, but at least four homes sustained damage in the storm.
“I know there were some homes damaged up there, and we’re planning on going to do a damage survey here in the next hour or so,” he said on Wednesday morning.
One of those homes belonged to Jason Taliaferro, who reported on social media that his wife had to rush their children into the basement of the home near Manville.
“Lots of property and hail damage on my place just south of Hartville. My wife saw the tornado coming straight at our house before grabbing our kids and going downstairs,” Taliaferro wrote.
The size and category of the tornado is also unknown at this point, as it will depend on the damage report to classify the tornado.
Cox also confirmed a report of a smaller twister in the Chugwater area.
“There was a rope tornado report, and there was at least one tornado observed around 5 p.m. east of Chugwater,” he said. “We don’t have any reports of damage there.”
Along with the tornadoes, the storm also brought along large hail. According to a Facebook post by the NWS, softball-size hail was reported north of Lingle at 3:55 p.m.
“This thing had large hail and also a tornado, so it was a monster storm,” Cox said.
