Storm rips through HSC County

Last Thursday almost looked like winter in Hot Springs County, as a short but intense thunderstorm came through with wind gusts and plenty of hail that covered yards and streets in a brief blanket of white.

Meteorologist Chris Hattings with the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Riverton said the largest hailstones reported were about the size of a quarter and at official reporting stations the largest wind gusts were 35 miles per hour. The combined forces certainly left their mark, shredding through trees and crops, and sending people running for cover.

Hattings noted it's not unusual to see such intense storms this time of year, but the whole state has seen a rash of severe weather. The county has had plenty of severe weather in 2018, as information from the NWS Riverton Office shows a total 16 warnings for the county - four related to tornadoes and 12 for severe thunderstorms.

The storm was just the tip of the iceberg, though, as a report came in of a grass fire on Black Mountain Road.

On Friday, July 27, just after 3:30 p.m. the fire department was called out again to a hay stack fire on Owl Creek. Fire Chief Mark Collins said 12 people responded to the fire, along with a water tender and three engines. Collins noted the fire took about five hours to put out.

On Saturday, July 28, at about 3 p.m. the department was called out to a fire on Zimmerman Butte. Collins said 14 people responded, and vehicles included three engines and one water tender. Firefighters got back about 3:30 a.m. Sunday, Collins said, but a water tender was sent back out to the location on Sunday, from 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Though the fire started about a mile into Washakie County, Collins said, it burned all the way down to Black Mountain Road, taking more than 3,000 acres.