Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
WORLAND — Memorial Day weekend weather was not kind to Wyoming, bringing tornadoes to the southeast of the state and strong winds and flooding to the Big Horn Basin.
According to the National Weather Service a flood watch that began last Thursday continued all day Monday for portions of north central Wyoming and northwest Wyoming, including the Big Horn Mountains, southeast Big Horn Basin and northwest Wyoming.
Several tributary creeks and streams that flow into the Big Horn and Powder River have the greatest potential for moderate flooding. Medicine Lodge Creek, Ten Sleep Creek, Rock Creek and Clear Creek were expected to flow at very high levels by early Monday morning.
At 9:37 a.m. Monday, Wyoming Highway Patrol was requesting assistance from the Ten Sleep Fire Department for flooding across U.S. Highway 16 at milepost 29.
According to Washakie County Emergency Management/Homeland Security Director Jeff Schweighart the rising water levels along Tensleep Creek were bringing downed timber that was plugging up culverts, contributing to some of the flooding.
He said there were tree limbs and water splashing across the road and water was rising near a residence in the area.
Flood stage for Tensleep Creek is 4.5 feet. Monday morning the level was at 4.78 feet according to National Weather Service gauge.
Monday morning Schweighart said the flood watch was expected to end Monday evening but that would depend on the weather. “We’ve seen 2 to 2.25 inches coming down in an hour with some of these storms have put down,” he said.
He added if debris doesn’t plug up the flow of the creek somewhere again, and if there are no more severe thunderstorms with rain, “we should be OK.” According to the National Weather Service, in Worland at the municipal airport, Worland received .32 inches of precipitation on Sunday, well above the average for this time of year at .04 inches.
For the month of May, according to the NWS, Worland has received 1.99 inches, above the normal range of 1.22.
Winds also downed limbs in town with gusts at the airport measured at 47 mph. A severe thunderstorm warning issued by the NWS on Sunday afternoon said areas could expect up to 70 mph. The South Big Horn County Airport near Greybull measured 78 mph.
Facebook posts from Basin residents showed downed trees and one shed that had blown apart.
The Big Horn River in Worland peaked at 6.5 feet last week and was just under 6 feet on Monday morning, according to U.S. Geological Survey data.
Medicine Lodge Creek also went above the flood stage Monday. According to the NWS, the levels for Medicine Lodge Creek near Hyattville were at 3.67 feet, with flood stage at 3.5 feet.
Forecast shows a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms for today. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 71. Light and variable wind becoming north northwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning.