Localized wind gusts cause property damage
Over 40 feet of barbed wire fence was damaged by trees uprooted by wind gusts up Petty Creek near Alberton on Jan. 29. (Photo by Alicia Gregory).
Pepper, owned by Alicia Gregory, sustained some scratches from the trees and barbed wire fencing damaged by strong winds last Monday. (Photo by Alicia Gregory)
Pepper, a bay horse, got some scratches when he got tangled up in some barbed wire fencing and trees downed by strong wind gusts near Alberton. He’s since made a full recovery. (Photo by Alicia Gregory)
Strong winds whistled down Petty Creek canyon near Alberton on Monday night, Jan. 29 causing damage to some property located 11 miles up the road. Alicia Gregory was staying at her parents place when she went outside around midnight and found several lodge pole pine trees had blown down over their barbed wire fence.
Her horse, Pepper, had gotten caught up in the wire and trees and had cuts on his legs and hind end.
“Thankfully it’s nothing Bag Balm, vet wrap and duct tape can’t fix,” she posted on her Facebook page.
Only a couple of the fallen 50-foot lodge pole trees were dead, the rest were living, green trees she said. Pepper is fine but the trees damaged over 40 feet of fencing between theirs and their neighbor’s property. They also had some damage to the roof of their porch.
A few other isolated wind events were reported around the Missoula area, including the barn at a horse rescue facility in Corvallis. According to weather reports the event could have been caused by down sloping winds which occur ahead of a passing cold front. Valleys around the area were reporting wind west to south westerly gusts in the 30 to 50 mph range. The nearby canyons enhanced wind speeds allowing for localized and very isolated damage the report said.