1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
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 Dec 29, 3:00 AM MST, 6 hours 51 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD 300 AM MST SUN DEC 29 2002 MAIN CONCERN THIS FCST IS WINDS TNGT INTO MON. MDLS IN GD AGREEMENT NOW AND HAVE SLOWED TIMING OF COLD FNT EVEN MORE AND THEY ARE NOT BRINGING IN AS COLD OF AIR. TDY THOUGH WL BE ANOTHER VERY NICE DAY WITH HIGHS SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY WITH GD WLY WINDS AHEAD OF COLD FNT. EXPECT TEMPS TO FALL A BIT OVR THE HILLS AND NE WY THIS AFTN AS CAA STARTS SOONER AT H70 THAN IN LWR LEVELS. TNGT COLD FNT MOVES THROUGH AND WINDS WL INCREASE QUITE A BIT. H85 WINDS GET UP TO 40-45 KTS ACRS NWRN SD. BEST CAA MOVES THRU CTRL ND INTO ERN SD. GIVEN THIS...WL DROP HIGH WIND WARNING FOR SRN PORTIONS OF THE HIGH WIND WATCH AREA...BUT KEEP IT FOR EXTREME NW SD WHERE THEY ARE MORE LIKELY TO SEE A PERIOD OF SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR 40 MPH AND POSSIBLY SOME GUSTS NEAR 60 MPH. LOWS TNGT GENERALLY IN THE 20S AS THE WINDS WL KEEP ATMOSPHERE WELL MIXED. NOT ENOUGH MOISTURE AROUND TO GET SHSN SO TOOK OUT ALL MENTION. MON...WINDS WL CONTINUE TO BLOW...ESP NW SD THROUGH MUCH OF THE DAY. GRADIENT STARTS TO RELAX IN THE MID TO LATE AFTN. TEMPS WL BE ABOUT 20 DEG COOLER THAN TDY BEHIND FNT...BUT STILL A LTL ABV AVERAGE FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. WL SEE SOME RIDGING OVR WRN CWA MON NIGHT WITH LEE TROF DVLPG. THIS WL INCREASE WINDS ACRS NE WY OVERNIGHT AND LIKELY START TO RAISE TEMPERATURES BY MIDNIGHT OVER THIS AREA. ELSEWHERE LOWS WL GENERALLY BE IN THE TEENS WITH LT WINDS AND PTLY CLDY SKIES. TUE THE RDG WL PASS OVR CWA AND ALLOW FOR ANOTHER PLEASANT DAY WITH HIGHS MAINLY IN THE 40S WITH A FEW 50S POSSIBLE SW. SFC TROF DOES NOT MOVE MUCH AND WL BE LOCATED NR WY/SD BORDER BY 00Z WED. WILL SEE AN INCREASE IN CLD CVR TUE NIGHT AS S/W APPROACHES FM NW. MAY SEE A FEW SHSN ACRS NW SD AND THE NRN HILLS TUE NIGHT INTO WED. A BIT COOLER WED BEHIND TROF...BUT RIDGE REBUILDS OVR ROCKIES FOR THU AND FRI AND SHLD SEE HIGHS BACK INTO THE 40S AND SOME 50S. BEST CHC FOR PRECIP STILL LKS TO BE SAT...BUT STILL NOT ANY REAL COLD AIR WITH IT. .UNR...HIGH WIND WATCH NW SD SUN NIGHT AND MONDAY. JMG
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A very strong cold front moved across northeast Wyoming during the morning and afternoon. Wind gusts reached near 60 mph behind the front.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wyoming in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, December 2002
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: 5326037.