Wyoming’s Weak History Of Tornadoes Is A Great Thing

When it comes to weather issues in Wyoming, tornadoes are low on the list. There's an average of about six per year, and the ones we see are typically not very strong.

The average Wyoming tornado only travels about 3 miles and is less than a football field wide. I'm not saying they can't cause damage or hurt anyone, just that compared to some in other parts of the country. Tornadoes in the Midwest and southern states have been known to be destructive enough to regularly destroy whole communities.

Tornado strength is measured by the Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale, meaning you'll hear a tornado ranked as an EF1, EF2, EF3, EF4, or EF5. The tornadoes are measured not so much by their strength or speed but by the damage they leave behind them.

One of the most destructive tornadoes in Wyoming came in July of 1979. The F3 tornado hit the northern part of Cheyenne, damaging homes and businesses. This tornado had winds between 135 and 165 mph, with a path nearly 9 miles long and 100 yards wide. Over 1800 people were affected, with 40 injured and one killed.

The largest tornado on record for Wyoming was in the Teton-Yellowstone area in July 1987. The storm was ranked an F4, meaning the winds reached between 166 and 200 mph. It was also considered the highest-elevation tornado, at 8500 to 10,000 feet.

Most of the damage from this storm was to timber, as thousands of acres of trees were knocked down and scattered until most of them were burned up in the huge Yellowstone fire of 1988.

Wyoming last experienced a significant tornado outbreak in 2023, when a supercell produced multiple tornadoes, including one that hit the North Antelope Rochelle Coal Mine and continued through eastern Wyoming.

Stormchaser and meteorology PHD Reed Timmer predicts Wyoming will have a fairly average year for tornadoes, but we will not likely see an outbreak like we had in 2023. Nevertheless, you should always be prepared and watch the sky when the weather turns rough.

If you're wondering, southern Wyoming has experienced the most tornadoes in the state, with Laramie County recording 90 between 1950 and 2003.

This video shows a recorded EF3 tornado captured by storm chaser James Hammett near Laramie, WY, in 2018.