Wyoming, 2002

High Wind in Wyoming, January 13, 2002

January 13, 2002 · NWS UNR · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

A very strong cold front moved across northeastern Wyoming in the pre-dawn hours. A particularly tight surface pressure gradient combined with strong low-level winds produced sustained winds of 40 to 50 mph and gusts to 75 mph.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
4

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.

A very strong cold front moved across northeastern Wyoming in the pre-dawn hours. A particularly tight surface pressure gradient combined with strong low-level winds produced sustained winds of 40 to 50 mph and gusts to 75 mph.

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 Jan 13, 1:56 AM MST, 1 hour 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 13, 1:56 AM MST, 1 hour 4 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
155 AM MST SUN JAN 12 2002

MAIN PROB TODAY WILL BE WINDS AND POTENTIAL FOR SOME SNOW IN NRN
BLACK HILLS. BUFKIT SDGS FOR RAP HAS 69KT GUST POTENTIAL WITH CORE
OF 50-60KT WINDS 2000-6000 FT AGL. WITH GD CAA ALOFT SHLD BE ABLE TO
MIX THESE WINDS DOWN TO THE SFC. BUFKIT ALSO HAS WRNG CRITERIA WNDS
CONTG INTO THIS EVENING. WL EXTEND WARNING INTO EVENING HRS AND UP
GUSTS TO 65 MPH...THOUGH WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE 70 MPH PLUS.
WL ALSO ISSUE WIND ADVISORY OF SCENT SD.

AS FOR SNOW IN NRN HILLS...GALENA SOUNDING HAS DEEP MSTR FM ARD 11Z
THRU 20Z..AND PLENTY OF LWLVL MSTR WRAPPING ARD UPPER LOW IN ERN MT
AT THIS TIME. MESO-ETA SPITTING OUT ABOUT .30 QPF IN SW LAWRENCE CTY
FOR TODAY...WHICH WOULD BE EXPECTED WITH 310-330 WIND DIR. HEAVIEST
PCPN SHOULD BE FM TERRY PK TO ONEILL PASS WITH LESSER AMOUNTS
LEAD/DEADWOOD. WL GO 2-4 INCHES AT THIS TIME...BUT WOULD NOT RULE
OUT LOCALLY HIGHER AMTS.

SUN NIGHT LKS LIKE WINDS WL STILL BE QUITE STR IN THE EVENING...
WITH WINDS DIMINISHING AFTER MIDNIGHT. A FEW FLURRIES STILL POSS IN
THE NRN HILLS. ON MONDAY...LOOKS COOL AND BRISK.

IN THE EXTENDED...S/W AND UPPER TROF WL MOVE THROUGH ON TUES. THIS
WL BRING CHC SNOW...MAINL OVER SRN HALF OF FA. FOR WED-SAT LKS LIKE
SEASONABLE TEMPS AND CONT DRY.

.UNR...HIGH WIND WARNING TODAY THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR NORTHEAST WY
       AND THE NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL PLAINS OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
       WIND ADVISORY TODAY THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR SOUTH CENTRAL
       SOUTH DAKOTA.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Moorcroft

When
January 13, 3:00 AM MST to 11:00 AM MST
Where
Moorcroft forecast zone
Measured
57 kt (66 mph)
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
44.589, -104.570 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Gillette

When
January 13, 4:42 AM MST to 12:27 PM MST
Where
Gillette forecast zone
Measured
65 kt (75 mph)
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
44.248, -105.548 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, South Campbell

When
January 13, 11:51 AM MST to 6:51 PM MST
Where
South Campbell forecast zone
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
44.248, -105.548 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Weston

When
January 13, 1:30 PM MST to 7:00 PM MST
Where
Weston forecast zone
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
43.841, -104.568 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

More

Every storm in Wyoming in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5279097, 5279095, 5279096, 5279177.