High Wind in Wyoming, January 20 to 21, 2002

Name: High Wind in Wyoming, January 20 to 21, 2002
Start: 2002-01-20T04:30
End: 2002-01-21T16:00
Location: Wyoming

January 20 to 21, 2002 · NWS CYS · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

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

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $100,000
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 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 20, 3:07 AM MST, 1 hour 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 20, 3:07 AM MST, 1 hour 23 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
310 AM MST SAT JAN 19 2002

CURRENT MESO-ETA PROG QUITE CLOSE WITH AROUND 30 KTS MBW AREA AT
700 MB. AT MIDNIGHT ETA MODELS LOOKED SLIGHTLY BETTER WITH VORTICITY
FIELD OVER SOUTHERN UT...ALTHO AVN WAS QUITE SIMILAR WITH VORTICITY
CENTER NEAR SOUTHWEST CORNER UT. ETA LOOKED BETTER WITH PLACEMENT OF
VORTICITY CENTER OVER NORTH-CENTRAL WY AT 06 UTC. UPPER TROUGH
ASSOCIATED WITH SOUTHWEST UT CENTER WILL BE MOVING ACROSS CWA THIS
MORNING...CLEARING PANHANDLE BY 18 UTC. HOWEVER...WILL STILL BE ON
CYCLONIC SIDE JET TIL 00 UTC/5 PM WHEN AXIS MOVES EAST OF STATE.
ABOUT THAT TIME HIGH WIND SCENARIO BECOMES MUCH MORE FAVORABLE WITH
700 MB FLOW INCREASING TO 45-55 KTS. PROGGED SOUNDING FOR MBW AREA
SHOWS DEVELOPMENT OF STRONGLY STABLE LAYER FROM MTN TOP UPWARDS.
ISENTROPHIC DOWNGLIDE SOUTH-CENTRAL AT 00 UTC SHIFTS TO LAR
RANGE AND CO FRONT RANGE BY 12 UTC/5 AM MON. DEVELOPMENT OF LEE
TROUGH JUST EAST OF LARAMIE RANGE THIS PM WILL AID RISK OF HIGH
WINDS FOR PLATTE AND WESTERN LARAMIE CNTY. CNTYS ALONG STATE LINE
AND EASTWARD SHOULD HAVE MARKEDLY LESS WIND THAN THOSE TO WEST BUT
STILL WINDY. 700 MB FLOW ON MESO-ETA INCREASES TO 50-65 KTS OVER
MUCH OF CWA BY 36 HRS/5 AM MON. UPPER FLOW WILL BACK FROM 36-60
HRS/5 AM MON-5 AM TUE AND THREAT OF HIGH WINDS WILL SHIFT WESTWARD
TO SOUTH-CENTRAL PART. CARBON COUNTY COULD BE BORDERLINE WRT TO WIND
GUSTS THIS PM. WILL ISSUE HW WARNING FOR MTNS. WILL BACK OFF ONSET
FOR PLATTE AND WESTERN LARAMIE CNTYS TIL LT AFTN WHERE WILL KEEP
WATCH GOING. ALSO WILL ISSUE HW WATCH FOR CARBON CNTY.

.CYS...
WY...HI WIND WARNG THIS AFTN/TNGT SE MTNS ZNS 63..64..66.
     HI WIND WATCH LT AFTN/TNGT LEE SE MTNS ZNS 67..69.
     HI WIND WATCH LT TNGT/MON SOUTH-CNTRL ZNS 61..62.
NE...NONE.

COX

Event by event

4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Laramie Range / Se Albany / W Laramie

When: January 20, 4:30 AM MST to January 21, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Laramie Range / Se Albany / W Laramie forecast zone
Measured: 70 kt (81 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, North Laramie Range / X S Converse / N Albany / X Se Natrona

When: January 20, 4:30 AM MST to January 21, 4:00 PM MST
Where: North Laramie Range / X S Converse / N Albany / X Se Natrona forecast zone
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Platte

When: January 20, 4:30 AM MST to January 21, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Platte forecast zone
Measured: 57 kt (66 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

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

When: January 20, 4:30 AM MST to January 21, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Snowy Range / Se Carbon / X Sw Albany forecast zone
Measured: 74 kt (85 mph)
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High winds blew over much of southeast Wyoming over and near the mountains, with unofficialgusts as high as 105 mph reported near Buford, WY. Gusts in the Arlington, WY area were recorded as high as 85 mph. Several empty tractor trailers were blown over along a stretch of Interstate 80 between Arlington and Elk Mountain.

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: 5277976, 5277977, 5277978, 5277979.