Sidney dodges severe weather

Sidney and Cheyenne County have seen the benefits of storms that brewed up Wednesday evening and into Thursday, but as of Thursday morning had yet to see much damage despite the severity seen in parts of the region.

Tornado sirens in Sidney blared Wednesday evening after the National Weather Service in Cheyenne detected rotation on radar - the type of rotation that NWS Meteoroligist Chad Hahn said can produce tornados.

“Fortunately, this one did not,” Hahn said. The decision to issue a tornado warning, he said, was a move on the side of caution because quickly developing storms often don’t leave much room for reaction.

When the warning was issued, the storm was situated about six miles southwest of Sidney.

While Sidney dodged severe impact from that storm, others in the region did not.

When the storm passed over Pine Bluffs, Wyo., just an hour to the west, the town and area was pummeled with large hail, both in diameter and amount.

A number of windows were broken in Pine Bluffs, both on buildings and autos. There were reports of siding and tree damage as well.

Thursday morning saw rain fall in Sidney, with about three-tenths by noon.

Also on Thursday morning, the Cheyenne County Sheriff’s Office and others kept an eye on the northern end of the county, which came under a severe thunderstorm watch. As the storm passed, hard rain was accompanied by small hail.

Hahn said that storm had hit McGrew with half-dollar size hail.

While the moisture is welcome, Hahn said one of the unfortunate by-products this time of year is that the quickly building storms can become severe very quickly.

When speaking with the Sun-Telegraph Thursday morning, Hahn said Thursday would likely see a series of storms, some severe, build throughout the day and into evening.

Today, Hahn said there could be lighter storms, but didn’t expect a real possibility of severe storms again until Saturday.