An upper level disturbance and tight pressure gradient associated with an approaching cold front helped to produce high wind across portions of northern Wyoming. The highest wind gusts were across the Cody Foothills on the morning of Wednesday, January 15.
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The episode as NWS RIW wrote it up.
An upper level disturbance and tight pressure gradient associated with an approaching cold front helped to produce high wind across portions of northern Wyoming. The highest wind gusts were across the Cody Foothills on the morning of Wednesday, January 15. A mesonet station south of Clark along State Highway 120 registered a wind gust of 83 mph. Also, an anemometer at the Park County Sheriff's Office in Cody peaked at 67 mph. Strong northwest wind was reported that evening and overnight in northern Johnson County behind the passage of the cold front. The ASOS at the Johnson County Airport in Buffalo reported a gust to 72 mph at 2112MST.
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 Jan 15, 2:38 AM MST, 37 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY 238 AM MST WED JAN 15 2014 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING INTO THE WEST AND A LEE SIDE TROUGH DIGGING TO THE EAST WILL INCREASE THE PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS THE STATE...THIS WILL INCREASE WIND SPEEDS FROM ROCK SPRINGS TO CASPER AND OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS AND ALONG THE CODY FOOTHILLS. TEMPERATURES HAVE POPPED UP TO ABOUT 40 DEGREES ALREADY IN THE CODY FOOTHILLS WHEREVER THE WIND IS BLOWING...EVEN IN FRESHLY SNOW COVERED AREAS...SO HAVE TAKEN DOWN THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR BLOWING SNOW AS THAT THREAT HAS PASSED...BUT SOME AREAS ARE GUSTING OVER 50 MPH AND THIS POSES A BLOWOVER RISK FOR LIGHT TRAILERS AND HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES ALONG HIGHWAY 120 SO CAUTION SHOULD STILL BE USED. THESE GUSTY WINDS WILL PERSIST THROUGH MIDNIGHT. NORTHWEST FLOW REMAINS ALOFT...WITH SOME GUSTS MIXING DOWN AT TIMES INTO AREAS VULNERABLE TO NORTHWEST FLOW...LIKE THE UPPER GREEN RIVER AND UPPER WIND RIVER BASINS. GENERALLY WIND SPEEDS IN THESE AREAS WILL BE BETWEEN 15 AND 25 MPH WITH SOME GUSTS TO 35 MPH...SOME OF THE MORE WIND PRONE AREAS COULD SEE GUSTS OVER 40 MPH. A DRY COLD FRONT GRAZES THE NORTHEASTERN PORTION OF THE FORECAST AREA TONIGHT...NO PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED BUT WINDS WILL BE STRONG IN NORTHERN JOHNSON COUNTY FOR A FEW HOURS AS THE WIND DIRECTION REACHES A FAVORABLE ORIENTATION FOR BUFFALO...A FEW GUSTS OVER 50 MPH ARE NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION THIS EVENING. THURSDAY WILL REMAIN DRY AND WINDS WILL TAPER OFF THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS. TEMPERATURES WILL BE MILD...AT OR ABOVE NORMAL IN MOST PLACES. ANOTHER LEE SIDE TROUGH DIGS IN LATE THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY MORNING BUT THE GRADIENT ALOFT EASES...SO A FEW LIGHT BREEZES ARE EXPECTED AROUND BUFFALO...ROCK SPRINGS...AND IN THE MOUNTAINS BUT OVERALL IT WILL BE A PRETTY PLEASANT DAY. .LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY UPPER RIDGE ALONG THE WEST COAST WILL RECENTER OVER THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST OVER THE WEEKEND THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK BEFORE RETROGRADING BACK TO ITS CURRENT POSITION IN THE MID TO LATE WEEK. THE EASTWARD SHIFT AND DEAMPLIFICATION OF THE TROUGH DOWNSTREAM ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN U.S. WILL KEEP THE POLAR FRONT AND STORM TRACK WELL TO THE NORTH AND EAST OF OUR AREA...SO THIS WILL BE A PERIOD OF DRY AND GENERALLY MILD WEATHER EXCEPT IN THE FAR WESTERN VALLEYS WHERE STEEP INVERSIONS WILL BE THE RULE. GFS AND ECMWF BOTH CONTINUE TO TREND FURTHER NORTH WITH A CLIPPER TOPPING THE RIDGE OVER THE WEEKEND...SO THE IMPACTS WILL BE LIMITED TO WIND...PICKING UP IN THE CODY FOOTHILLS SATURDAY NIGHT WITH NW WINDS PICKING UP ACROSS THE BIGHORN RANGE AND NE JOHNSON COUNTY SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY AS THE SYSTEM DIVES SE INTO THE PLAINS. BEYOND MONDAY...THERE IS STILL NOT A LOT OF CONFIDENCE IN ANY DETERMINISTIC SOLUTION IN HANDLING PACIFIC ENERGY SPLITTING INTO THE BACKSIDE OF THE RIDGE. THE TREND IS ONE OF PERSISTENCE...WITH UPPER RIDGE RE-ESTABLISHING ALONG THE WEST COAST BY THURSDAY...AND STORM TRACK REMAINING WELL TO THE NORTH AND EAST OF THE AREA. LATEST EC ENSEMBLE MEAN SHOWS LITTLE CHANGE TO THIS LONGWAVE PATTERN THROUGH THE 6-10 DAY PERIOD. && .AVIATION.../12Z ISSUANCE/ THE MAIN AVIATION CONCERN WILL BE WINDY CONDITIONS...MAINLY FROM KRKS TO KCPR...KDUB TO KRIW...AND THE CODY FOOTHILLS. THESE WINDY CONDITIONS IN COMBINATION WITH SOME FRESH SNOW WILL RESULT IN AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW. THE KCOD TERMINAL WILL LIKELY SEE SOME VISIBILITY RESTRICTIONS AT TIMES TODAY...WITH MVFR AND EVEN BRIEF IFR VSBY POSSIBLE. THERE COULD ALSO BE PATCHY FOG/LOW CLOUDS ACROSS THE FAR WESTERN VALLEYS...AND ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF THE BIG HORN BASIN THIS MORNING. OTHERWISE...EXPECT VFR CONDITIONS WITH UNLIMITED CEILINGS. PLEASE SEE THE AVIATION WEATHER CENTER FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON TURBULENCE FORECASTS. && .FIRE WEATHER... STRONG INVERSIONS RETURNING OVERNIGHT AS WARMER AIR AND RIDGING MOVES IN FROM THE WEST...ATOP THE COLD AIR...AND SNOW...LEFTOVER FROM THE EXITING COLD FRONT. WIND SPEEDS WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE IN WIND PRONE AREAS AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE WEST AND LOW PRESSURE DIGS TO OUR EAST. HIGHEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED IN THE FOOTHILLS AND FROM ROCK SPRINGS TO CASPER TODAY AND TOMORROW. NO ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATING PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED THROUGH THE WEEKEND. && .RIW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && SHORT TERM...ALLEN LONG TERM...AEM AVIATION...WM FIRE WEATHER...ALLEN
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY 218 PM MST TUE JAN 14 2014 WYZ001>020-022>030-151200- 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- 218 PM MST TUE JAN 14 2014 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW IN THE CODY FOOTHILLS TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT TONIGHT...WINDS WILL INCREASE ACROSS THE CODY FOOTHILLS TONIGHT AND CONTINUE THROUGH WEDNESDAY. EXPECT WIDESPREAD BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW ALONG WITH DIFFICULT TRAVEL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...STRONG WEST WINDS WITH CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW WILL PERSIST ACROSS THE CODY FOOTHILLS ON WEDNESDAY. STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS AND NORTHEAST JOHNSON COUNTY THROUGH THE DAY WEDNESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THESE STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS ARE LIKELY TO PERSIST ACROSS NORTHEAST JOHNSON COUNTY AND IN THE BIGHORN MOUNTAINS THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SHARPLY REDUCED VISIBILITY TONIGHT IN THE CODY FOOTHILLS. THANK YOU. TEAM RIVERTON
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY 200 AM MST WED JAN 15 2014 WYZ002-003-151900- ABSAROKA MOUNTAINS-CODY FOOTHILLS- 200 AM MST WED JAN 15 2014 INCREASING NORTHWEST WIND OF 30 TO 40 MPH WITH OCCASIONAL GUSTS OVER 60 MPH WILL LEAD TO AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW TODAY AND TONIGHT...AND POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS TRAVEL...ESPECIALLY FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRAILERS TRAVELING ALONG HIGHWAY 120. CHECK THE LATEST ROAD REPORTS AND WEBCAMS BEFORE VENTURING OUT. 19
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A weather station 8 miles south of Clark measured numerous wind gusts past 58 mph including a maximum of 83 mph. Some other strong wind gusts included 67 mph at the Cody Sheriff's office.
Wind gusts of 72 mph and 60 mph were reported at the Buffalo airport.
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, January 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: 487944, 487946.