High Wind in Wyoming, January 7 to 8, 2002

Name: High Wind in Wyoming, January 7 to 8, 2002
Start: 2002-01-07T15:30
End: 2002-01-08T12:00
Location: Wyoming

January 7 to 8, 2002 · NWS CYS · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

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

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 7, 2:16 PM MST, 1 hour 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 7, 2:16 PM MST, 1 hour 14 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
216 PM MST MON JAN 7 2002

WINDY WILL BE THE WEATHER WORD OVER WILD WONDERFUL WY THE NEXT
SEVERAL DAYS AS THE CHINOOK KICKS INTO HIGH GEAR. FAST NORTHWEST
FLOW ALOFT TODAY WILL BACK TO FAST ZONAL FLOW TONIGHT AS THE MEAN
UPPER RIDGE OVER THE WESTERN CONUS IS FLATTENED BY A WEAK SHORTWAVE
PLOWING THROUGH IT. FAST ZONAL FLOW WILL THEN DOMINATE THE REGION
TUE INTO WED...THEN THE UPPER FLOW PATTERN SPLITS OVER THE WESTERN
CONUS. AT THE SURFACE...HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN OVER THE UT/CO
BORDER THROUGH TUE NIGHT...THEN A WEAK PACIFIC COOL FRONT PUSHES
THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA AND THE DOME OF HIGH PRESSURE SHIFTS
NORTHWESTWARD OVER ID WED INTO THU. A STRONG LOW LEVEL TROUGH OVER
THE GREAT PLAINS WILL KEEP THE LOW LEVEL PRESSURE GRADIENT TIGHT
ACROSS THE REGION...HENCE THE WIND. ALL MODELS PROG THE 850 MB AND
700 MB GRADIENTS TO INCREASE TONIGHT WITH AN AREA OF GOOD HEIGHT
FALLS DEVELOPING ACROSS NORTHEASTERN MT AND SOUTHERN CANADA. WILL
UPGRADE THE CURRENT HIGH WIND WATCH TO A HIGH WIND WARNING FOR
TONIGHT AND TUE MORNING FOR THE SOUTHEAST WY MOUNTAINS AND ADJACENT
PLAINS. ALL MODELS PROG A DECREASE IN THE PRESSURE GRADIENT TUE
AFTERNOON AND I BELIEVE THE WINDS WILL DECREASE SOMEWHAT TUE
AFTERNOON...STILL WINDY BUT NO LONGER SATISFYING HIGH WIND WARNING
CRITERIA. THE STRONG ADIABATIC WARMING ASSOCIATED WITH THE STRONG
DOWNSLOPE WINDS WILL RESULT IN ANOTHER MILD DAY TUE. THE
AFOREMENTIONED PACIFIC COOL FRONT WILL SLIP THROUGH LATE TUE OR
EARLY WED THUS WED WILL BE A SOMEWHAT COOLER DAY...ALBEIT STILL
MILDER THAN NORMAL...WITH CONTINUED BREEZY/WINDY CONDITIONS.
INCREASING AIRMASS MOISTURE AND WEAK DYNAMICS WILL WARRANT LOW POPS
TUE NIGHT INTO WED IN MOST AREAS. THU LOOKS DRY AND CONTINUED
BREEZY/WINDY WITH TEMPS SIMILAR TO THOSE EXPECTED WED.

IN THE EXTENDED...THE LONGWAVE PATTERN UNDERGOES A TRANSITION IN THE
EXTENDED...WITH THE WESTERN RIDGE GRADUALLY REPLACED BY A BROAD TROF.
AS ALWAYS...THE MEDIUM RANGE MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW DIFFERENCES IN
THE TIMING AND PLACEMENT OF SHORTWAVE FEATURES FROM RUN TO RUN. THE
12Z AVN HAS A COLD FRONT MOVING THRU THE AREA FRI WITH 700MB TEMPS
FALLING 2 TO 4 DEGC FROM THU. THE UPPER RIDGE RE-BUILDS BRIEFLY SAT
WITH A WARM UP IN STORE AS A LEE TROF DEVELOPS. MODEL DIFFERENCES
SHOW UP SUN-MON...AS THE 12Z AVN IS MUCH FASTER AND DEEPER WITH THE
TROF ENTERING IN THE PAC NW THAN LAST NITE/S MRF. IN EITHER
CASE...HEIGHTS LOWER OVER THE AREA LATE IN THE EXTENDED AND
TEMPERATURES COOL. BREEZY/WINDY CONDS THRU MOST OF THE EXTENDED AS
AREA REMAINS UNDER FAST NORTHWEST FLOW.

.CYS...
WY...HIGH WIND WARNING TNGT AND ERLY TUES...S CNTL AND SE WY.
     ZNS61>67..69.
NE...NONE.

JR/JK

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Platte

When: January 7, 3:30 PM MST to January 8, 12:00 PM MST
Where: Platte forecast zone
Measured: 58 kt (67 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

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

When: January 7, 3:30 PM MST to January 8, 12:00 PM MST
Where: Snowy Range / Se Carbon / X Sw Albany forecast zone
Measured: 58 kt (67 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Strong winds blew across parts of southeast Wyoming with sustained winds of 45 to 55 mphcommon over the mountains and nearby plains. Gusts to 67 mph were recorded near Arlington, WY, and near 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: 5277857, 5277858.