News Release
May 23, 2008

UW greenhouse facilities damaged in Thursday’s tornado

University of Wyoming greenhouse facilities operated by the College of Agriculture were damaged during Thursday’s tornado that struck Laramie. At least two research projects were immediately affected.

The tornado damaged numerous homes, businesses, a church, an historic dance hall, vehicles, a boat, fences and trees on the east and northeast side of Laramie, and the College of Agriculture greenhouse facilities were very near the path of the most severe winds, officials said.

“I’m confident this was a tornado based on the damage I’m seeing in this part of town,” said John Griffith, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Cheyenne.

Griffith said his team rated the tornado as an EF1 with wind speeds of 95 to 105 mph. He described an EF1 as a “weak” tornado. EF, short for the Enhanced Fujita, rates tornadoes on a scale from 0, the weakest, to 5, the most severe.

Jennifer Schomp, a horticultural research associate for the College of Agriculture, said five of 18 traditional greenhouses were damaged at the UW facilities, and one “hoop house” greenhouse was destroyed.

Schomp added that a storage shed and a wooden pole barn were demolished. Huge pieces from the pole barn were carried approximately 250 yards, landing in an open field. About 10 large spruce trees were either uprooted or snapped in half at the greenhouse facilities.

“It was pretty scary. I have never been right under a storm like that,” Schomp said. “It was loud, the loudest noise I’ve ever heard.”

Employees, students and others across campus were notified of the tornado warning through the UW Alert system and Wyoming Union’s public address system. Schomp and another person at the greenhouse determined the safest place to seek shelter was in the men’s bathroom in the office building at the facilities.

“We thought that would be the safest place,” she said based on the location of the restroom within the concrete block building, which apparently sustained no damage.

Cynthia Weinig, an associate professor in the departments of botany and molecular biology, said she had planted about 1,000 pots with Arabidopsis seeds about 10 days ago as part of her research to determine how circadian rhythms affect plant fitness. A circadian rhythm is a daily rhythmic activity cycle based on 24-hour intervals, and Arabidopsis is a genus in the mustard family often used in studying plant biology because its entire genome has been sequenced.

Weinig said approximately 100 pots were toppled, and she was still evaluating this morning how much of her research had been compromised.

Weinig praised greenhouse crews and members of the UW Physical Plant for their diligent work after the storm to ensure that thousands of research plants within the damaged greenhouse facilities were adequately protected from hail, snow and freezing temperatures since that section of town was without power. They made temporary repairs to the structures and also used a gasoline-powered generator to provide electricity for the greenhouses, which are being used by several UW faculty members for research.

The tornado also severely affected the plant research of Maureen Veniegas, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Plant Sciences. Her plants were in the hoop house that was destroyed.

“The crews were shifting plants all around, and with the backup generator they were able to keep the greenhouses at approximately 70 degrees,” said Stephen Miller, associate dean in the College of Agriculture and director of the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station.

Dave Claypool, a master technician with the College of Agriculture’s Department of Plant Sciences, was at the greenhouse facilities when the storm hit.

“It got very noisy from the hail and wind. There was a lot of pea-sized hail, but there were many big ones mixed in,” Claypool said. “We picked up one hailstone that was 1 ½ inches across.”

Claypool said he found it interesting that one “hoop house” greenhouse was destroyed but another one a very short distance away “didn’t look like it was even touched by the storm.”

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Contact: Robert Waggener, Editor
Phone: (307) 766-3571
E-mail: robertw@uwyo.edu

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