3 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 Mar 11, 1:59 PM MST, 2 hours 1 minute earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
159 PM MST MON MAR 11 2002
LOWERING HEIGHTS IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC AND A VERY STRONG 300 MB JET
SIGNAL THE CHANGES IN THE WEATHER OVER THE CWA FOR THE REST OF THE
WEEK. WESTERLY WIND FLOW ALOFT OVER AND TO THE NORTH OF THE CWA
INCREASES TONIGHT AND TUESDAY AND WILL AID IN PRODUCING A VERY WINDY
PERIOD OVER MUCH OF THE CWA. AT THE SAME TIME...PRESSURE GRADIENTS
FROM THE SURFACE TO 700 MB TIGHTEN...WITH MESOETA AND RUC40 KCAG-
KCPR GRADIENTS FAVORABLE BETWEEN 06Z AND 18Z. FOR THOSE REASONS...
WILL UPGRADE THE PREVIOUSLY ISSUED HIGH WIND WATCH FOR THE MOUNTAINS
AND SOME NEARBY AREAS TO A HIGH WIND WARNING 06Z TO 18Z. THAT SAME
STRONG WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL BRING CONSIDERABLE MID AND HIGH
LEVEL CLOUDS OVER THE CWA ALONG WITH OROGRAPHIC LIGHT SNOW IN THE
SNOWY RANGE STARTING BY MIDDAY TUESDAY. AS HEIGHTS LOWER...A COLD
FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE CWA LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY TUESDAY
NIGHT. AHEAD OF THE FRONT...TEMPERATURES WILL BE MILD AND TEMPERED
ONLY BY THE CLOUD COVER. HIGHS FOR WEDNESDAY WILL BE 10 TO 20
DEGREES COOLER IN THE COOLER AIR MASS BEHIND THE FRONT. BY WEDNESDAY
TROUGH ALOFT DEEPENS OVER THE WEST COAST...WITH SOUTHWEST WIND FLOW
ALOFT OVER THE CWA. BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...LEFT FRONT QUADRANT
OF THE 300 MB JET WILL PROVIDE ENOUGH LIFT OVER THE COLDER BOUNDARY
LAYER COLDER AIR FOR LIGHT SNOW. MODELS SIMILAR IN THAT SCENARIO
WITH THE SOUTH THIRD OF THE CWA HAVING THE MOST WIDESPREAD AND
HIGHER QPF. SURFACE UPSLOPE WIND FLOW ENDS AROUND MID MORNING ON
THURSDAY...WITH THE SNOW ENDING. GUIDANCE TEMPERATURES SEEM TO BE
TOO WARM FOR WEDNESDAY AND WILL GO BELOW THOSE VALUES WITH THE
READINGS STAYING COOL ON THURSDAY.
.EXTENDED...
RATHER COOL AND UNSETTLED PATTERN STILL ADVERTISED OVERALL BY THE
WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. MODELS DIVERGENT ON HOW MUCH ENERGY
WILL DROP SE OUT OF CANADA INTO A WRN U.S. TROF. MRF SHOWING HIGHLY
AMPLIFIED RIDGE DVLPG FROM THE PACIFIC TO ALMOST THE POLE BY FRIDAY.
THIS SEEMS RATHER EXTREME. OTHER MODELS LESS AMPLIFIED AND MORE
PROGRESSIVE. WILL FAVOR LESS AMPLIFIED SOLN BUT GO COLDER THAN
GUIDANCE TEMPS. BEST CHC FOR PCPN LOOKS TO BE SAT AND SUNDAY AS
SHORTWAVE ENERGY BEGINS TO MOVE ACROSS...BUT NO ORGANIZED SFC
SYSTEM SHOULD KEEP PCPN MORE SCATTERED.
.CYS...
WY...HIGH WIND WARNING MOUNTAINS AND PLATTE COUNTY FROM LATE EVENING
TONIGHT TO NOON TUESDAY. ZONES 62>64..66..67.
NE...NONE.
WEILAND/EMANUEL3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong winds were recorded over the mountains of southeastern Wyoming into the nearby high plains. Winds of 40 to 55 mph were common. Gusts as high as 79 mphwere recorded on Interstate 80 near Arlington, WY, while gusts to 71 mph blew across Interstate 25 near Chugwater, WY.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wyoming in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, March 2002
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: 5284649, 5284650, 5284651.