CHEYENNE (WNE) — Wind gusts reached 91 mph in Cheyenne last weekend in one of the longest sustained windstorms in the area in recent memory.
Emergency response teams kept busy on Saturday …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
The Powell Tribune has expanded its online content. To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a subscription.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free web account by clicking here.
If you already have a web account, but need to reset it, you can do so by clicking here.
If you would like to purchase a subscription click here.
Please log in to continue |
|
CHEYENNE (WNE) — Wind gusts reached 91 mph in Cheyenne last weekend in one of the longest sustained windstorms in the area in recent memory.
Emergency response teams kept busy on Saturday and Sunday responding to calls of downed power lines, power poles, light poles and a few houses that were hit by trees that were blown over.
Interstates across the state were closed for safety, and many trucks and trailers toppled from the wind.
Cheyenne Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Don Wood led teams of firefighters as they received 50 calls on Saturday alone.
“I do know that there was a couple of points in time that every single unit was responding to calls in the city,” Wood said. “It was definitely a stretch for resources.”
Laramie County Fire Authority responded to 10 wind-related calls last weekend, including power lines down, roofs blowing off, semi-trucks blown over and carbon monoxide alarms.
Hayden Humphrey, vice president of field operations for Capitol Roofing, estimated his company received around 40 or 50 calls for roof repairs over the weekend, and he anticipates more to come.
He said he has never seen anything like the past weekend’s windstorm in his eight years in the roofing business..
Black Hills Energy also had a busy weekend, as crews responded to downed power lines.
National Weather Service Cheyenne lead meteorologist Aaron Woodward said his staff recorded 15 hours that met “high wind” criteria. According to the NWS, “high winds” are winds 40 mph or greater for better than one hour, and/or wind gusts 58 mph or greater, for any duration.
“That definitely was one of the longest-duration highwind events,” Woodward said, adding that in his 2 1/2 years in Cheyenne, he had never experienced winds over 80 mph.