Weekend windstorm rattles Laramie County

CHEYENNE (WNE) — Wind gusts reached 91 mph in Cheyenne this 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 this weekend. He said 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 this 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 this 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 two-and-a-half years in Cheyenne, he had never experienced winds over 80 mph.

This story was published on April 9, 2024.