One year after a storm brought damage to multiple residences and vehicles in Box Butte County, Mother Nature performed a repeat, sending large hail and heavy winds to sweep the county.
On July 9, Box Butte County witnessed two rounds of heavy storms that caused damage to windows, roofs and vehicles. According to Matthew Brothers, Meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Cheyenne, the storm was significant in scale compared to others in recent history.
“I believe the largest hail size that we got a report of was 4.25 inches in diameter,” said Brothers. “That was 12 miles southeast of Hemingford. That was with the first round that was around 5:30 p.m. We got many other reports of not-as-large, but still pretty significant-size hail, as well as going through Alliance, we got a lot of pictures of at least baseball-sized hail that broke a lot of windows on houses as well as cars in town.”
Brothers said the National Weather Service received many reports of funnel clouds near Alliance, though no tornadoes were confirmed. He said in the second round of the storm, which hit at approximately 9 p.m. there was golf-ball sized hail, as well as heavy winds.
“The Alliance Airport actually recorded a wind gust of 88 mph,” Brothers said. “We saw plenty of videos of wind blowing through town, as well as reports of wind-driven hail breaking windows on houses and damaging vehicles.”
Brothers explained that on July 9, 2020, a similar storm struck Box Butte County, causing damage to crops, vehicles and structures. He said last year there were reports of golf-ball sized hail.
Alliance City Manager Seth Sorensen said the City is taking steps to help clean up after the storm, including picking up fallen branches and opening the landfill.
“We’ve seen a lot of damage to vehicles, and some to housing,” said Sorensen. “We’re seeing a line of roofing contractors come in and get their permits at City Hall. So, they are out and about working with residents working with residents on getting their roofs fixed and getting claims filed. Most of the damage specific to the city was vehicle and some roof damage.
“City-wide, we had a lot of trees down,” Sorensen said. “Those limbs really did some damage in that second pass. In order to address that, we are allowing people to put limbs and whatever else they need picked up out by the curb. We’re working on getting that list and driving around. People are free to call in, or to just leave it by the curb and we will find it. We also opened up the landfill until next Saturday so that residents can bring their green waste free of charge.”
Sorensen emphasized he is grateful to Alliance’s citizens who have taken initiative to clean up after the storm.
“I’m very proud of our citizens,” said Sorensen. “I went out the very next morning and people were already working on cleaning up their yards and taking pride in their property. I’m very grateful for that.”
Brothers explained that there may be some small storms on Wednesday, though the rest of the week should remain clear.