(Wyoming) – The National Weather Service office in Riverton has issued an update for a few Wyoming counties of possible severe weather conditions and a small chance of tornado activity for Saturday, May 24.
Locations with an opportunity for severe storms are shaded in the National Weather Service graphic below, with the darker areas most at risk. This encompasses portions of Fremont County, including Riverton and Shoshoni. Natrona County, Carbon County and areas of southeastern Wyoming are most at risk for “tornadic activity” and hail today.
While Wyoming isn’t considered part of “tornado alley,” there are on average a handful of twisters every year. June being the peak, averaging 5 of them across the state. May averages just 3 tornadoes per year. The full month-by-month breakdown can be found here.
Since 1950, there have been a total of 443 recorded tornadoes in the Cowboy State and two deaths. In 1979 a tornado devastated many homes near Cheyenne, killing one and injuring 40. In 1959, an F2 tornado killed one person near Shell, Wyoming in the Bighorn National Forest.
Our neighbors, Nebraska and Colorado have already been busy with their tornado-seasons. In fact, Colorado saw an outbreak of them on Friday across the northern part of the state, with five different twisters officially recorded. A week ago, southern Nebraska was impacted by a few damaging storms.
For Wyoming weather updates, follow the National Weather Service office in Riverton via Facebook here or their website here.