Name: Damaging Winds in Wyoming, August 8, 2002
Start: 2002-08-08T13:30
End: 2002-08-08T13:46
Location: Wyoming

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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 moved across Weston County, and blew over a 5th-wheel camper.

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 8, 12:55 PM MST, 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 8, 12:55 PM MST, 35 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
155 PM MDT THU AUG 8 2002

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH ENTIRE AREA EXCEPT CAMPBELL COUNTY
WYOMING THIS EVENING...
VIGOROUS PACIFIC SHORT WAVE MOVING INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS THIS
AFTERNOON WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE INTENSE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY AS
IT MOVES OUT OF SOUTHERN MONTANA INTO NORTHEAST WYOMING AND WESTERN
SOUTH DAKOTA. FORECAST HODOGRAPHS INDICATE A PREFERENCE FOR LINEAR
ORGANIZATION...STRONG WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. THE WINDS ARE OF
PARTICULAR CONCERN FOR NWRN SD...N AND NE OF THE BLACK HILLS...SINCE
THE SHORT WAVE WILL CONTRIBUTE 50+ MPH WIND SPEEDS TO THE MID LEVELS
OF THE ATMOSPHERE ACROSS WRN SD BY MIDNIGHT.  SEVERE WEATHER
OPERATIONS IN PROGRESS AT UNR.

ONLY MINOR ADJUSTMENTS WERE MADE TO LATER PERIODS OF THE PACKAGE. A
SOMEWHAT UNSTABLE NW FLOW WILL KEEP THE WEATHER MODERATELY ACTIVE
THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK...THEN LARGE SCALE SUBSIDENCE AND DRY
AIR WILL PROVIDE A RESPITE FROM MIDDAY SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.
SUMMERTIME HEATING AND A WEAK MID LEVEL SHORT WAVE WILL PRODUCE SOME
WEATHER MON AND TUE...WITH FAIR SKIES DOMINATING WED AND THU.

.UNR...NONE.

CARPENTER

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 8, 10:31 AM MST, 2 hours 59 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
1131 AM MDT THU AUG 08 2002

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0945 PM    3 NW FAIRPT               SD   65 MPH TSTM GUST
08/07/02   MEADE                          REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

1000 PM    1 S REVA                  SD    MPH TSTM GUST
08/07/02   HARDING                        EVENT DURATION 30
                                          MINUTES. REPORTED BY
                                          STORM SPOTTER.

1003 PM    ZEONA                     SD   70 MPH TSTM GUST
08/07/02   PERKINS                        REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

1030 PM    PRAIRIE CITY              SD   60 MPH TSTM GUST
08/07/02   PERKINS                        REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

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 8, 1:30 PM MST
Where: Weston County, 13 mi WNW of Upton
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 44.167, -104.883

Thunderstorm Wind, Weston

When: August 8, 1:46 PM MST
Where: Weston County, 4 mi E of Upton
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.100, -104.550

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

More

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: 5310610, 5310611.