A tornado that touched down on Casper Mountain Friday afternoon caught forecasters by surprise. Trevor LaVoie, with the National Weather Service, says the storm systems moving through Natrona County today didn’t show any signs of producing tornadoes.
“These types of storms are more general thunderstorms in nature," LaVoie says. "We’re not really seeing a lot of heavy rain, they’re short-lived, and their depth is relatively shallow. They’re only about 15,000 feet thick.”
The tornado wasn’t visible on radar, but it was reported by numerous observers.
"A spotter called in saying they were on I-25 south and they could see a tornado on Casper mountain,” LaVoie says.
That call was followed by several others. LaVoie says the tornado was probably what’s called a land spout, which tend to be weaker than those formed by supercells.
There’s been no damage reported from the twister.