Deepening low pressure over the central plains brought a tight pressure gradient and strong mid-level winds to Wyoming. The mid-level winds mixed to the surface and an extended period of high wind impacted northeast Johnson County and favored locations in the Big Horn Basin.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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 episode as NWS RIW wrote it up.
Deepening low pressure over the central plains brought a tight pressure gradient and strong mid-level winds to Wyoming. The mid-level winds mixed to the surface and an extended period of high wind impacted northeast Johnson County and favored locations in the Big Horn Basin.
Wind gusts in northern Johnson County frequently exceeded 60 mph from early morning until mid-evening. The peak gust of 70 mph was registered at 1205MST. The high wind occurred in conjunction with intermittent rain and snow showers occasionally reducing the visibility to less than one-half mile. High wind gusts were also reported in the Cody Foothills and northern Big Horn Basin where winds gusted to 73 mph north of Meeteetse and 62 mph at the South Big Horn County Airport in Greybull.
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 Riverton, WY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 28, 10:40 PM MST, 3 hours 12 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY 1140 PM MDT MON APR 28 2014 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY (ISSUED AT 307 PM MDT) TWO CONCERNS CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA TODAY. THE FIRST ARE THOSE DASTARDLY...PAIN IN THE NECK NORTHWESTERLY FLOW SNOW BANDS THAT DRIVE ME NUTS. THE HARDEST HIT AREA WAS CASPER MOUNTAIN WHERE LOCALLY 4 INCHES AND MORE OF SNOW HAS FALLEN. ANOTHER BAND HAS SET UP ACROSS FREMONT COUNTY WITH MOST OF THE SNOW FALLING IN THE FORM OF GRAUPEL WITH CONVECTIVE NATURE OF THE BANDS. AS FAR AS ACCUMULATIONS...OTHER THAN IN THE MOUNTAINS THEY HAVE BEEN RELATIVELY LIGHT AND MAINLY ON THE GRASS WITH ROADS STAYING WET WITH THE STRONG LATE APRIL SUN. THIS ACTIVITY SHOULD TAPER OFF THIS EVENING WITH THE LOSS OF DAYTIME HEATING. THE OTHER CONCERN IS FOR WIND. THE WIND HAS BEEN QUITE STRONG ONCE AGAIN ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA...ESPECIALLY ACROSS NORTHERN JOHNSON COUNTY. SO FAR ONCE AGAIN...WINDS ARE HOLDING JUST BELOW HIGH WIND CRITERIA. MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW 55 TO 60 KNOTS AT 700 MILLIBARS ON TUESDAY OVER THE AREA. THEREFORE...WE WILL GO AHEAD AND UPGRADE THE HIGH WIND WATCH TO A WARNING. MUCH OF THE REST OF THE AREA SHOULD SEE LESS ACTIVITY WITH A SOMEWHAT MORE STABLE ATMOSPHERE IN PLACE. THERE IS SOME CONCERN ABOUT SOME SNOW BACKING INTO THE AREA FROM THE EAST AS THE UPPER LEVEL LOW RETROGRADES A BIT. THE MODELS ARE SPLIT ONCE AGAIN WITH THE GFS BACKING SNOW AS FAR WEST AS RIVERTON BY SATURDAY EVENING WHILE THE NAM KEEPS IT LARGELY EAST OF THE COUNTY WARNING AREA. FOR NOW...WE SPLIT THE MIDDLE WITH THE MODELS. TEMPERATURES WILL ONCE AGAIN AVERAGE BELOW NORMAL WITH COOL NORTH TO NORTHWESTERLY FLOW REMAINING OVER THE AREA. .LONG TERM...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY TRANSITIONING BROAD HI OVR LO LW TROF STILL DOMINATING CONUS...WITH RIDGE/TROF BLOCKING PATTERN STRETCHING FROM COASTAL REGIONS OF ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC OUT INTO THEIR RESPECTIVE OCEANS ALSO STILL IN PLACE. TUE NIGHT AND WED...UPR HI RIDGE OVR THE COASTAL WEST WILL TRY TO MOVE EWD...BUT WILL INSTEAD AMPLIFY IN PLACE FOR A DAY OR TWO...SPLITTING OUR CWA UNDER NW FLOW ALOFT W AND NERLY RETURN FLOW OVR THE ERN FA. SO GENERALLY DRY W...AND CLOUDY AND UNSETTLED E AS BIT OF SW ENERGY AND MOISTURE ROTATE AROUND THE GREAT PLAINS LOW PERIODICALLY. TUE NIGHT...CONVECTIVE PRECIP CONTINUES AT TIMES...AIDED BY MODEST MOISTURE AS UPR SW ROTATING AROUND W SIDE OF UPR MIDWEST LOW. OTHERWISE...JET ENERGY FROM THE NORTHERN REACHES OF NA MOVES ACROSS AND EWD FINALLY HELPING IN PUSHING OUT THE INFLUENCE OF THE CNTRL CONUS LOW. THURSDAY LOOKS TO OFFER THE CWA A BRIEF REPRIEVE FROM MOST PRECIPITATION AND WIND ELEMENTS WITH DRY STABLE CONDITIONS BLANKETING THE REGION AHEAD OF THE NEXT CHANGE. LATE THU NIGHT...CLOSER TO FRIDAY MORNING...UPR SW AND CLIPPER TYPE FRONT MOVE INTO THE NRN/NERN CWA...INCREASING POPS ONCE AGAIN....ESPECIALLY THE E AND NE. OVERALL...LR MODELS IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT THRU SUN NOW...AS EACH HAVE NOW TAKEN TURNS COMING AROUND TO EACH OTHER'S THINKING OVR THE LAST 24 TO 48 HRS. THE INFLUENCE OF THE WRN CONUS RIDGE LOOKS TO BE A BIT MORE SUBSTANTIAL NOW THAN IT HAS OVR THE 24 TO 48 HRS...PARTICULARLY ACROSS THE SWRN HALF OF THE FA...SO NUDGING TO SLIGHTLY WARMER HIGHS THRU SUNDAY AS NW FLOW OVR THE STATE FINALLY SUBSIDES SUNDAY WHILE THE LR MDLS NOW SHOW FLAT RIDGING BY THIS TIME. WHILE THE MDLS CONTINUE TO HAVE DIFFERING IDEAS AS HOW TO HANDLE THE TEMPORAL AND SPACIAL DIFFERENCES CONCERNING THE LARGE CLOSED LOW OUT OVR THE EPAC...BOTH HAVE ALSO DELAYED ITS INCURSION TO THE REGION...NOW NOT AFFECTING THE CWA UNTIL AT LEAST THE BEGINNING OF THE NEXT WORK WEEK. ADDITIONALLY...MOISTURE SOURCES DURING THIS PERIOD STILL DO NOT LOOK TO BE BENEFICIAL FOR LARGE SCALE RAIN OR SNOW FOR THE MOST PART...HAVING TO GET INTO THE CWA FROM GREAT DISTANCES...WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF LL RETURN FLOW THRU MOST OF THE PERIOD...EXCEPT FOR PERHAPS VERY LATE IN THE FCST PERIOD ON MONDAY...AND ONLY IF THE SFC PATTERN ALIGNS RIGHT. BETTER PRECIP CHCS SHOULD ALSO TEND TOWARD THE NRN HALF OF THE FA...WITH MOST UPR FORCING AND FRONTS STAYING/STAGNATING ACROSS THE NRN CWA. && .AVIATION.../06Z ISSUANCE/ EAST OF THE DIVIDE...KCOD/KCPR/KLND/KRIW/KWRL ROUTES SNOW SHOWERS WILL OCCUR FROM KBYG TO KCPR OVERNIGHT AND THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING WITH MVFR CONDITIONS AT TIMES. THE BIGHORN MOUNTAINS WILL SEE SNOW THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT WITH MVFR TO IFR CONDITIONS. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS WILL DEVELOP AFTER 18Z IN THE EAST SLOPES OF THE ABSAROKA MOUNTAINS WITH MVFR CONDITIONS AT TIMES. WEST OF THE DIVIDE...KBPI/KJAC/KPNA/KRKS ROUTES VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. ISOLATED SNOW SHOWERS WILL OCCUR IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NW WY TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT WITH LOCAL MVFR CONDITIONS. && .FIRE WEATHER... COOL BLUSTERY NORTHWEST WINDS WILL DOMINATE THE WEATHER ENVIRONMENT THROUGH MID WEEK. SNOW SHOWERS WILL DECREASE IN COVERAGE TONIGHT. STEADY LIGHT SNOWFALL WILL SNEAK BACK INTO ZONES 280...281...289 AND 300 LATE TUESDAY AND INTO WEDNESDAY AS LOW PRESSURE IN THE MIDWEST BACKS MOISTURE BACK INTO EASTERN WYOMING. GUSTY WINDS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA WITH 40 MPH SUSTAINED NORTHWEST WINDS WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE IN ZONE 281 LATE TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING. TEMPERATURES WILL BEGIN TO MODERATE WEDNESDAY. && .RIW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO MIDNIGHT MDT TUESDAY NIGHT WYZ010. && SHORT TERM...HATTINGS LONG TERM...BRAUN AVIATION...AR FIRE WEATHER...HATTINGS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY 257 PM MDT MON APR 28 2014 WYZ001>020-022>030-291100- ABSAROKA MOUNTAINS-BIGHORN MOUNTAINS SOUTHEAST- BIGHORN MOUNTAINS WEST-CASPER MOUNTAIN-CODY FOOTHILLS- EAST SWEETWATER COUNTY-FLAMING GORGE- GREEN MOUNTAINS AND RATTLESNAKE RANGE-JACKSON HOLE-LANDER FOOTHILLS- NATRONA COUNTY LOWER ELEVATIONS-NORTH BIG HORN BASIN- NORTHEAST JOHNSON COUNTY-OWL CREEK AND BRIDGER MOUNTAINS- ROCK SPRINGS AND GREEN RIVER-SALT RIVER AND WYOMING RANGES- SOUTH LINCOLN COUNTY-SOUTHEAST BIG HORN BASIN- SOUTHEAST JOHNSON COUNTY-SOUTHWEST BIG HORN BASIN-STAR VALLEY- TETON AND GROS VENTRE MOUNTAINS-UPPER GREEN RIVER BASIN- UPPER GREEN RIVER BASIN FOOTHILLS-UPPER WIND RIVER BASIN- WIND RIVER BASIN-WIND RIVER MOUNTAINS EAST-WIND RIVER MOUNTAINS WEST- YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK- 257 PM MDT MON APR 28 2014 ...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR JOHNSON COUNTY FOR LATE TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT LOCALLY MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW SHOWERS WILL LIKELY OCCUR INTO EARLY EVENING WITH A FEW INCHES OF SNOW OCCURRING IN LOCALIZED AREAS. HIGH WINDS WILL IN NORTHERN JOHNSON COUNTY INCLUDING THE TOWN OF BUFFALO...ESPECIALLY AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY TUESDAY...STRONG WINDS IN JOHNSON COUNTY INCLUDING THE TOWN OF BUFFALO TUESDAY AND TUESDAY EVENING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SNOW AMOUNTS AND WIND GUSTS GREATER THAN 45 MPH. THANK YOU. TEAM RIVERTON
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High winds blew for most of the day across northern Johnson County. Wind gusts exceeded 60 mph with a peak of 70 mph.
Numerous wind gusts past 58 mph were reported on State Highway 120 north of Meeteetse, including a maximum of 73 mph.
A 62 mph wind gust was recorded at the airport near Greybull.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wyoming in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, April 2014
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: 509301, 506453, 506454.