The Cheyenne Office of the National Weather Service says strong to severe thunderstorms are possible in southeast Wyoming and the Nebraska Panhandle today.

According to the agency, storms that could produce damaging winds, large hail, and even a tornado are possible in southeast Wyoming and especially the Nebraska Panhandle.

The agency posted the following on its website:  ”There is an Enhanced Risk (Level 3 of 5) for Cheyenne County, including Sidney, and a Slight Risk (Level 2 of 5) for a larger portion of southeast Wyoming and western Nebraska. All weather hazards are possible today (damaging winds, large hail, and a tornado or two), though large hail is the biggest threat. The strongest storms are expected in a several waves between 2PM and 11PM. Make sure to stay weather aware today and have multiple ways to receive warnings!”

Forecast For Cheyenne and Laramie

Cheyenne Forecast:

Laramie Forecast:

Sunday

LARAMIE — It’s officially “series season.”

This summer, with the help of some longtime Wyoming football followers, we will count down the Top 25 homegrown products in program history.

As always, what these guys did in professional football doesn’t matter. This is all about production in Laramie. A couple of the guys on this final list may not have been born here, but they grew up in Wyoming and graduated from an in-state high school.

Once we put a bow on these selections, we’ll move on to other states like Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, etc. You get the picture:

No. 20 – Frank Crum

Offensive lineman, 2018-23, Laramie, Wyo.

Résumé in Laramie

Frank Crum appeared in 56 career games at Wyoming after redshirting his true freshman season in 2018. The former walk-on earned First Team All-Mountain West honors during his final season in Laramie after making the switch from right to left tackle in the offseason. The 6-foot-7, 315-pound Laramie native was a third-generation Cowboy, joining his grandfather Earl and father Gary. Crum turned down offers from rivals Utah State and Colorado State before accepting a PWO from then head coach Craig Bohl. Crum, who was also an all-conference honorable mention in 2021, helped pave the way for 1,000-yard rushers Xazavian Valladay and Titus Swen. He was part of four bowl teams during his six years on campus, winning a pair of Arizona Bowls and the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in 2021. Crum finished with a 5-1 record against Border War rival CSU. The lone loss came during the Covid-19-shortened 2020 campaign. Last month Crum signed with the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent.

About Laramie

Home of the University of Wyoming, Laramie is home to more than 31,000 residents, making it the fourth-largest city in the state. The Gem City is nestled between the Snowy and Laramie Range and its elevation exceeds 7,200 feet above sea level. Laramie is roughly 50 miles west of Cheyenne on Interstate-80 and 25 miles north of the Colorado state line.

Pokes Football: Best of Wyoming series

* No. 25

* No. 24

* No. 23

* No. 22

* No. 21

(Cody Tucker and Jared Newland both work for Townsquare Media, which owns 7220sports.com. Kevin McKinney has been a color commentator of Cowboy football for five decades. Ryan Thorburn now works for the University of Wyoming in a sports information role after spending decades in the newspaper industry, most recently at the Casper Star-Tribune. Sally Ann Shurmur, the daughter of former UW football coach Fritz Shurmur, is also a veteran of the newspaper industry, working as a journalist, columnist at the CST for 43 years. She currently writes for Cowboy State Daily.)

– University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players

If Wyoming grizzlies are selected to repopulate Washington State’s remote North Cascades region, they might not receive a warm welcome from locals.

“They are a major, major apex predator, they are at the top of the food chain,” Omak, Washington, resident Chance Cornell told Cowboy State Daily on Friday during a brief break from his job at a local hotel and casino.

He and his wife are avid hunters and outdoor enthusiasts, but Cornell said he’s not sure how he feels about possibly running into grizzlies in the backcountry.

“Now you’re talking about a grizzly bear. I think it’s going to come with some challenges. I don’t know what they’re going to do. I don’t know,” he said.

Northeast Oregon resident Bud Ludwigson told Cowboy State Daily that Washington’s North Cascades region has long been one of his favorite hiking and backpacking destinations.

But with grizzlies moving in, he’s not sure if he’ll keep going back.

“I guess as a hiker, a backpacker and somebody who ventures into the mountains, (the presence of grizzlies) is something that scares me when I’m in Yellowstone country, Montana or Canada,” he said. “When I’m here in Oregon or in Washington, all I’ve had to worry about are black bears. But grizzlies are on a whole other level.”

Bears Will Be Flown In

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other federal agencies recently green-lighted plans to reintroduce grizzlies to the North Cascades. Wyoming was named as a possible source for bears to transplant. But there’s been no final word yet on where the first batch of reintroduced grizzlies will come from.

When the reintroductions begin, possibly as soon as this summer, bears will be trucked into staging areas. The sedated grizzlies will then be placed in nets or on platforms slung under helicopters and flown to release sites in the backcountry.

Typical Concerns

Wyoming resident Rob Wallace is former U.S. assistant secretary of the Interior. He recently told Cowboy State Daily that in 2019, he went to Omak to represent the Interior Department during local public hearings regarding the grizzly reintroductions.

At the time, local resistance to the idea was strong, he said. Locals cited many of the same concerns that folks in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Colorado have about large predators such as grizzlies and wolves.

They expressed worry over grizzlies attacking cattle and possibly disrupting other existing land uses, Wallace said.

Will It Affect Tourism?

Cornell said the effects on tourism are also a concern.

“We do rely on tourism as part of the economy. There isn’t a whole lot of industry here,” he said.

“There’s hiking trails, there’s biking trails,” and people also enjoy boating and fishing, he said.

With that many people out and about, the presence of grizzlies could put a new twist on things, Cornell said.

“They’re saying, ‘Oh, this is going to work.’ But what happens when it doesn’t work?” he said.

As to whether the reintroduction of grizzly bears could hurt local tourism, “I think it might,” Cornell said. “I think it might slow down. Or, maybe I’m 100% wrong and maybe we won’t see any change in tourism at all.”

Ludwigson said he’s also worried about what could happen when grizzlies return to an area where, unlike Wyoming, people aren’t used to them.

“There are just a lot of unprepared people in those mountains,” he said.

Mixed Feelings

Cornell said he and his wife like getting outside as much as they can and hunt mule deer, whitetail deer, turkey and waterfowl.

“We are generally armed when we go to the outdoors,” he said.

However, the area where the bears will be introduced is “a national park,” where firearms aren’t allowed, he added.

“I don’t think (the grizzly reintroductions) will deter anything I’m doing. I’ve never seen a grizzly in real life out in the wild. We’ve seen some black bears. There’s something way different between a black bear and a grizzly,” Cornell said. “But where they’re going to be putting them, heck, maybe we’ll never see them.”

Ludwigson said he’s tried to consider both sides of the debate over grizzly reintroduction, but ultimately leans against the idea.

“Just as a recreationalist, I don’t support it, and I don’t want to go up there and deal with that additional threat of a much larger mammal,” he said.

Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.