EF1 Tornado — Natrona, Wyoming

2023-06-23 · near Midwest, Natrona, Wyoming

Event narrative

There were numerous reports, pictures, and video of a cone tornado that touched down to the south of Midwest, WY. The tornado remained over open country for the most part. However, the tornado damaged one home where a large section of the roof was removed. Exterior walls remained standing. A trailer was overturned, fuel tanks were blown away, and trees near the residence were damaged.

Based on the FR12 damage indicator category, this tornado was rated EF1 using a low to middle end DOD estimate for the type of construction. Winds are estimated to have been around 110 mph. Stronger winds could have occurred elsewhere along the track, but open country prevented any further evidence of wind damage. Damage survey completed by county emergency management officials.

Wider weather episode

An upper level low passing over Wyoming combined with a strong jet stream to bring an outbreak of severe weather. Three tornadoes were confirmed in the WFO Riverton warning area on this day. This was the most in one day since June 12, 2017. There was one tornado in Sweetwater County and two in Natrona County. The largest and most impactful tornado was south of Midwest, WY in northern Natrona County where a home and surrounding property was damaged. Very large hail also occurred with some of the storms. The largest hail occurred in southern Johnson County and northern Natrona County where baseball size hail was reported from strongly rotating supercell thunderstorms. Other severe thunderstorms moved from Lander to Riverton and dropped quarter to golf ball size hail, causing damage to many roofs and vehicles.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (43.2997, -106.3486)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1105509. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.