Wyoming, 2002

Winter Storm in Wyoming, January 13, 2002

January 13, 2002 · NWS UNR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

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 in excess of 50 mph and wind gusts to 84 mph on the western South Dakota plains.

Where it happened

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.

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  • Cold
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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 in excess of 50 mph and wind gusts to 84 mph on the western South Dakota plains. Atmospheric moisture was sufficient and when combined with these strong northwest winds, produced conditions favorable for enhanced snowfall over the Northern Black Hills. Seven to eight inches of snow were reported across most of the Wyoming Black Hills and Bear Lodge Mountains. Strong winds also caused significant blowing and drifting snow.

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, 2:30 PM MST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 13, 2:30 PM MST, 0 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
230 PM MST SUN JAN 12 2002

UPDATED FOR HEADLINES...

20Z SURFACE ANALYSIS HAD LOW OVER NORTHWEST IA WITH TROUGH BACK INTO
CENTRAL ND. UPPER LOW OVER SOUTHWEST MN WITH SHORTWAVE OVER
SOUTHWEST ND/NORTHWEST SD BRINGING LAST GASP TO HIGH WINDS. UPSLOPE
SNOWS CONTINUE IN FAVORED AREAS WITH FLAKE SIZE LIMITING AMOUNTS TO
THE 5-8 INCH RANGE SO FAR. CONCERN THIS FORECAST IS HEADLINES.

12Z ETA/NGM/AVN INITIALIZED ALRIGHT AND AT 18Z REPRESENTED REALITY.
UPPER LOW QUICKLY MOVES EAST AS RIDGE BUILDS OVER EASTERN PACIFIC.
THIS WILL BRING ANOTHER SYSTEM THROUGH ON TUESDAY WITH NORTHWEST
FLOW ALOFT THEREAFTER.

TONIGHT...GRADIENT SLACKENS CONSIDERABLY AFTER 06Z...BUT NOT BEFORE
45-65KT LOWER TROPOSPHERIC FLOW KEEP SURFACE WINDS QUITE SPEEDY THIS
EVENING. MOISTURE WILL ON THE WANE IN THE LOWER LEVELS SO UPSLOPE
SNOWS SHOULD TAPER TO FLURRIES OVER THE NORTHERN/WYOMING BLACK HILLS
LATER THIS EVENING...BUT NOT BEFORE THE HIGHEST PEAKS PICK UP A FOOT
OF TOTAL SNOW. GUIDANCE REASONABLE.

MONDAY/MONDAY NIGHT...WEAK SURFACE RIDGE BUILDS SOUTHEAST ALLOWING
WINDS TO SLACKEN AND COLDER CANADIAN AIR TO SLIDE SOUTH.
TEMPERATURES WILL BE AT OR SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMALS...CLOSE TO
GUIDANCE.

TUESDAY/TUESDAY NIGHT...MODEST SHORTWAVE MOVES FROM THE CENTRAL
ROCKIES INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS. AN INVERTED SURFACE TROUGH WILL
DEVELOP WITH THE SOUTHWEST 1/3 OF THE CWA ON THE NORTHERN EDGE OF
SYSTEM. AVN WETTEST COMPARED TO ETA. WILL USE A BLEND WHICH LEADS TO
LIKELY POPS IN THE FAR SOUTHWEST TUESDAY NIGHT. GUIDANCE AGAIN OK.

IN THE EXTENDED...LITTLE CHANGE EXPECTED WITH SEASONABLE
TEMPERATURES. OPERATIONAL MRF NOW MUCH CLOSER TO ENSEMBLE MEMBERS.
HENCE...CONFIDENCE IS PRETTY GOOD.

.UNR...HIGH WIND WARNING EARLY THIS EVENING FOR NORTHEAST WY.
       HIGH WIND WARNING THIS EVENING NORTHWEST SD.
       WIND ADVISORY THIS EVENING SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
       SD.
       WINTER STORM WARNING THIS EVENING NORTHERN/WYOMING
       BLACK HILLS.

HELGESON

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Wyoming Black Hills

When
January 13, 2:30 PM MST
Where
Wyoming Black Hills forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.215, -104.569 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm
A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

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: 5279179.