Funnel Cloud — Sublette, Wyoming

2016-09-04 · near Merna, Sublette, Wyoming

Event narrative

A funnel cloud north of Merna heading north toward The Rim was photographed by several people over the course of 15 minutes.

Wider weather episode

A thunderstorm rapidly developed near Merna, Wyoming, on the afternoon of Sunday, September 4. Southeast wind at the surface coupled with strong southwest flow aloft created a favorable environment in which the storm could rotate. The storm strengthened, began rotating, and moved north across several private ranches and spawned a funnel cloud. The funnel eventually touched down as a tornado and caused areas of considerable tree damage just below The Rim, between Merna and Hoback Ranches. Large, old growth aspen trees of 12 to 15 inches in diameter were snapped in half, and other trees were topped, twisted, and/or uprooted. Hail up to the size of ping pong balls also fell near The Rim during the height of the thunderstorm.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (43.0335, -110.2553)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 657758. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.