Damaging Winds in Wyoming, August 7, 2002

Name: Damaging Winds in Wyoming, August 7, 2002
Start: 2002-08-07T17:28
End: 2002-08-07T17:30
Location: Wyoming

August 7, 2002 · NWS UNR · 2 events in 1 county or zone

Severe thunderstorm winds ripped three inch diameter tree limbs down and blew a trailer over.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $15,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS UNR wrote it up.

Severe thunderstorm winds ripped three inch diameter tree limbs down and blew a trailer over.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Rapid City, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 7, 1:50 PM MST, 3 hours 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 7, 1:50 PM MST, 3 hours 38 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
250 PM MDT WED AUG 7 2002

MODELS ARE CONSISTENT ENOUGH FOR THIS PACKAGE...WITH THE ETA
TRENDING A LITTLE SLOWER MOVEMENT WITH THE PACIFIC SHORT WAVE
CROSSING THE NORTHERN ROCKIES THU NIGHT.

CONVECTION IS ALREADY FIRING ALONG AND BEHIND AN OLD BOUNDARY
EXTENDING FROM THE CENTRAL BLACK HILLS NORTHEAST TO NEAR HEI.
WINDSHEAR IN THE AREA IS MOSTLY MINIMAL...EXCEPT FOR POSSIBLY A
LITTLE MORE NEAR THE BOUNDARY. MONSOON PLUME THROUGH EASTERN
WY...JUST EDGING INTO WRN SD WILL PROVIDE PLENTY OF MOISTURE FOR
TSTMS TONIGHT...BUT CAPES WILL REMAIN IN THE MODERATE
RANGE...1000-1500.

TONIGHT...CONVECTION HAS ALREADY FORMED OVER THE BLACK HILLS AND THE
HIGHER TERRAIN OF EASTERN WYOMING THIS AFTERNOON.  THIS IS EXPECTED
TO CONTINUE AND EXPAND IN AREAL COVERAGE TO INCLUDE NERN WY AND THE
PLAINS OF WRN SD THIS EVENING AS WEAK MID LEVEL IMPULSSES CROSS THE
NORTHERN HIGH PLAINS THIS EVENING. SHEAR IS NOT EXPECTED TO SUPPORT
A LOT OF SEVERE STMS WITH RATHER WEAK SW FLOW ALOFT.

THURSDAY...SIMILAR AMOUNTS OF MOISTURE AND CAPE ARE EXPECTED TO
DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE PACIFIC SHORT WAVE...BUT SHEAR SHOULD BE MORE
SUPPORTIVE OF LONG LIVED SEVERE STORMS AS MID LEVEL FLOW
INCREASES...AND LCLS SHOULD BE LOWER.

THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY...MID LEVEL SUPPORT AND COOL ADVECTION
ALOFT WILL PLAY A LARGER ROLE IN TSTM DEVELOPMENT. FRIDAY WILL
LIKELY BE THE COLDEST DAY OUT OF THE NEXT 7.

SATURDAY...COOL ADVECTION AND A LITTLE MOISTURE IN THE NLY FLOW
WRAPPING AROUND THE MID LEVEL LOW WILL PROBABLY PRODUCE A SMALL
AMOUNT OF STRATIFORM PCPN DURING THE DAY SATURDAY.

SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT...A TRANSIENT SHORT WAVE RIDGE
WILL KEEP A CAP ON CONVECTION FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE WEEKEND.

MONDAY...A PACIFIC COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP THROUGH THE
REGION...BRINGING AN REINFORCING SHOT OF COOL AIR TO KEEP
TEMPERATURES TO BELOW SEASONAL NORMALS.  THE MRF INDICATES MOST OF
THE PRECIPITATION WILL ACCOMPANY THE FRONT...OCCURRING EARLY IN THE
DAY IN THE WEST AND ENDING BY EARLY AFTERNOON IN THE EAST.

TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY...WEAK COOL ADVECTION AT MID LEVELS SHOULD
KEEP THE AMS UNSTABLE ENOUGH FOR SCT AFTERNOON CONVECTION...BUT DON
EXPECT ANYTHING SIGNIFICANT...WITH LITTLE LOW LEVEL FLOW AND
MODERATE WLY FLOW ALOFT.

.UNR...NONE.

CARPENTER

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Weston

When: August 7, 5:28 PM MST
Where: Weston County, 12 mi SW of Upton
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.983, -104.800

Thunderstorm Wind, Weston

When: August 7, 5:30 PM MST
Where: Weston County, Osage
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.967, -104.400

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Wyoming in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Wyoming, August 2002

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5310531, 5310532.