Tornadoes · United States · Wyoming

1976 tornadoes in Wyoming

24 tornadoes touched down in Wyoming in 1976, 137 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

1975 1977 The whole country in 1976

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Wyoming in 1976

April 12 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 126:10 PM MSTF1Niobrara0.313$5,000 to $50,000

May 29 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 293:15 PM MDTF2Laramie0.240$50 to $500
May 293:50 PM MDTF2Laramie0.140$50 to $500

June 4 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 46:30 PM MDTF0Sheridan0.110under $50
June 46:30 PM MDTF0Sheridan0.110under $50

June 5 6 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 57:30 PM MDTF0Campbell0.110under $50
June 57:30 PM MDTF0Crook0.110under $50
June 57:30 PM MDTF0Crook0.110under $50
June 57:39 PM MDTF0Campbell0.110under $50
June 57:53 PM MDTF0Campbell0.110under $50
June 58:45 PM MDTF0Campbell0.110under $50

June 13 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 132:50 PM MDTF0Campbell0.110under $50

June 16 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 165:51 PM MDTF0Campbell0.110under $50

June 17 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 173:40 PM MDTF0Washakie0.110$500 to $5,000

June 26 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 266:30 PM MDTF1Park2.027$500 to $5,000

July 2 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 22:00 PM MDTF2Carbon2.5433$50,000 to $500,000

July 4 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 45:00 PM MDTF1Big Horn0.210

July 12 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 124:05 PM MDTF0Goshen0.110
July 125:05 PM MDTF0Campbell0.110
July 126:00 PM MDTF1Crook0.110$5,000 to $50,000

August 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 33:36 PM MDTF1Fremont0.110

August 4 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 42:40 PM MDTF1Platte0.110

August 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 86:30 PM MDTF0Goshen0.110

August 15 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 153:15 PM MDTF1Campbell0.110$50,000 to $500,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Wyoming since 1950Warnings in force in WyomingThe live radar over Wyoming

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.