High Wind in Wyoming, January 12 to 13, 2002

Name: High Wind in Wyoming, January 12 to 13, 2002
Start: 2002-01-12T04:30
End: 2002-01-13T04:45
Location: Wyoming

January 12 to 13, 2002 · NWS CYS · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

3 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $10,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 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 Cheyenne, WY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 12, 2:17 AM MST, 2 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 12, 2:17 AM MST, 2 hours 13 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
217 AM MST SAT JAN 12 2002

NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT THIS MORNING WILL BACK TO ZONAL AND STRENGTHEN
THIS AFTERNOON THEN VEER TO NORTHWESTERLY AND REMAIN STRONG TONIGHT
AND SUNDAY AS A STREAMLINED VORTICITY LOBE MOVES THROUGH. LOCAL HIGH
WIND PROGRAM INDICATES THAT HIGH WIND WARNING JUSTIFIED FOR THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT IN AND NEAR SERN WY MOUNTAINS. WILL INCLUDE
WYZ069 IN WARNING ALTHOUGH MOST FAVORABLE NORTHWEST GRADIENT WILL
NOT ARRIVE UNTIL TONIGHT...DO NOT WANT TO GET TOO CUTE WITH TIMING
ISSUES...SCREAMING RED MESSAGE IS THAT IT WILL BLOW AND BLOW HARD.
THINKING HERE IS THAT WINDS IN THE WESTERN NEB PANHANDLE WILL REMAIN
BELOW WIND ADVISORY CRITERIA TODAY. KUDOS TO PREVIOUS SHIFT FOR
SETTING THE TABLE FOR UPCOMING HIGH WIND EVENT BY ISSUING HIGH WIND
WATCH. TEMPS TODAY WILL BE MILD FOR THE SEASON...ESPECIALLY EAST OF
THE MOUNTAINS WHERE DOWNSLOPE ADIABATIC WARMING WILL BOOST TEMPS.
WEAK SHORTWAVE TO PUSH COLD FRONT THROUGH REGION TONIGHT. MOISTURE
AND DYNAMICS PROGGED TO BE ANEMIC THUS WILL MENTION LOW POPS ONLY IN
MOUNTAINS TONIGHT. WINDS TO REMAIN AWAKE TONIGHT WITH WOUND UP LOW
LEVEL PRESSURE GRADIENT. SUNDAY LOOKS TO BE PARTLY CLOUDY...COOLER
AND BREEZY/WINDY...ALTHOUGH THE LOW LEVEL PRESSURE GRADIENT RELAXES
DURING THE DAY SUN AS SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE MOVES OVER CENTRAL AND
WESTERN WY. TEMPS MON SHOULD BEGIN TO REBOUND SOMEWHAT UNDER A
PARTLY TO MOSTLY SUNNY SKY AS A SHORTWAVE RIDGE ADVECTS OVER THE
REGION.

.CYS...
WY...HIGH WIND WARNING THIS AFTN/TONIGHT IN AND NEAR SE MTNS
          ZNS 63..64..66..67..69.
NE...NONE.

JR

Event by event

3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Cheyenne Foothills / C Laramie

When: January 12, 4:30 AM MST to January 13, 4:45 AM MST
Where: Cheyenne Foothills / C Laramie forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Platte

When: January 12, 4:30 AM MST to January 13, 4:45 AM MST
Where: Platte forecast zone
Measured: 57 kt (66 mph)
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Snowy Range / Se Carbon / X Sw Albany

When: January 12, 4:30 AM MST to January 13, 4:45 AM MST
Where: Snowy Range / Se Carbon / X Sw Albany forecast zone
Measured: 68 kt (78 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High winds blew across the mountains and adjacent high plains of southeastern Wyoming.An unloaded tractor trailer was blown over on Interstate 25 about 24 miles north of Cheyennewhere wind gusts were estimated to be from 70 to 80 mph. Gusts to 78 mph were recorded near Arlington, WY, while Cheyenne recorded a gust to 64 mph. Gusts to 66 mph were notednear Chugwater, WY.

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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, January 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: 5277973, 5277974, 5277975.