A period of high winds developed near Arlington and Bordeaux, with peak gusts between 58 and 65 mph.
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The episode as NWS CYS wrote it up.
A period of high winds developed near Arlington and Bordeaux, with peak gusts between 58 and 65 mph.
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 Dec 29, 5:10 PM MST, 5 hours 18 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Cheyenne WY 510 PM MST Thu Dec 29 2016 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Saturday night) Issued at 200 PM MST Thu Dec 29 2016 Visible Satellite loop and observations across the area show pretty quiet weather conditions overall with clear skies and near normal temperatures. The coldest temperatures are actually across the northern Nebraska panhandle due to surface snowpack and some of the more sheltered valleys. The main forecast concern will continue to be winds Friday and into the weekend. We are in a bit of a lull this afternoon with some gusts around 35 to 40 mph across the wind prone areas. High res and in-house models show a strengthening pressure gradient across the wind prone areas late this evening and tonight. Upgraded the High Wind Watch to a warning for the Bordeaux area with a good shot at seeing sustained winds over 40 MPH and gusts around 60 MPH. Typically look for a llvl pressure gradient around 4 mb along the spine of the Laramie range. All high res models show a near surface gradient around 4.5 mb around midnight tonight with 55-62m 850mb height gradient from near the CO border to Casper Wyoming. The Arlington area along I-80 and the I-80 summit have the potential to see High Wind criteria as well but these areas typically respond more favorably to 700mb winds...which will be a little weaker and generally below 50 knots for most of the time. Will continue to monitor these other two wind prone areas through tonight as gusts should climb to around 50 MPH. Models continue to show a ridge axis aloft weakening as it moves across the forecast area tonight and Friday. This will result in zonal flow aloft with much warmer temperatures on Friday due to downslope winds and 700mb temperatures increasing above zero. Highs on Friday could be above 50 degrees across the eastern plains of Wyoming and western Nebraska...with the exception of the northern zones as the first of a series of cold fronts begins to move into the area from the north. This front will gradually move southward into colorado Friday night with some light snow/flurries possible across the mountains and the east central plains from Douglas eastward to Chadron Nebraska. Temperatures will lower into the single digits and teens by early Saturday morning with highs struggling to reach the low to mid 30's during the day. .LONG TERM...(Sunday through Thursday) Issued at 230 PM MST Thu Dec 29 2016 Main weather concern this period will be much colder temperatures returning to the CWA. An upper low will settle over the Pacific northwest on Sunday while a large positively tilted upper trough develops from the northwest CONUS into central Canada. At the same time a canadian cold front will settle down the high plains... crossing the CWA Sunday afternoon. Expect to see snow increase over the CWA Sunday night given a nice overrunning pattern and some upper jet dynamics over the CWA. Snow should persist Monday though the heavier snow may lift northward during the day. Surge of arctic air then should move into the CWA late Monday with snow tapering off as the better dynamics shift south of the CWA. Tuesday through at least Thursday looking quite cold as the CWA remains under a fairly long north to northwesterly upper fetch. Some snow showers still possible over the southern parts of the CWA Wednesday as some shortwave energy ejects east across the central Rockys but amounts should be light. Continued idea of undercutting model temps as they are likely underdoing the cold air. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Friday evening) Issued at 507 PM MST Thu Dec 29 2016 VFR. Clear skies w/ generally light winds through the period. Some mountain-wave turbulence is possible along and east of the Laramie Range late tonight and Friday. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 1246 PM MST Thu Dec 29 2016 No Fire Weather concerns due to high humidities...temperatures...and a surface snowpack across much of the area. Bitter cold temperatures are expected next week as an arctic airmass moves into southeast Wyoming and Nebraska. && .CYS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WY...High Wind Warning until 2 PM MST Friday for WYZ106. NE...None. && SHORT TERM...TJT LONG TERM...RE AVIATION...CLH FIRE WEATHER...TJT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY 1020 AM MST THU DEC 29 2016 WYZ101>119-301200- CONVERSE COUNTY LOWER ELEVATIONS-NIOBRARA COUNTY- NORTH LARAMIE RANGE-FERRIS/SEMINOE/SHIRLEY MOUNTAINS- SHIRLEY BASIN-CENTRAL LARAMIE RANGE AND SOUTHWEST PLATTE COUNTY- EAST PLATTE COUNTY-GOSHEN COUNTY-CENTRAL CARBON COUNTY- NORTH SNOWY RANGE FOOTHILLS-SOUTHWEST CARBON COUNTY- SIERRA MADRE RANGE-UPPER NORTH PLATTE RIVER BASIN-SNOWY RANGE- LARAMIE VALLEY-SOUTH LARAMIE RANGE-SOUTH LARAMIE RANGE FOOTHILLS- CENTRAL LARAMIE COUNTY-EAST LARAMIE COUNTY- 1020 AM MST THU DEC 29 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG WINDS MAY DEVELOP TONIGHT ALONG THE HIGH WIND CORRIDORS OF BORDEAUX ALONG I-25 AND PORTIONS OF I-80 NEAR ARLINGTON TONIGHT. THOSE TRAVELING IN HIGH PROFILE AND LIGHTWEIGHT VEHICLES SHOULD AVOID THESE REGIONS TONIGHT AND EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE BORDEAUX AREA...BUT MAY BE EXPANDED WESTWARD INTO ARLINGTON TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY ARCTIC AIR COMBINED WITH SOME SNOWFALL EARLY WILL MOST LIKELY CREATE SOME VERY DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS AND SLICK ROAD CONDITIONS NEXT WEEK. STAY TUNED TO FURTHER UPDATES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. NEZ002-003-019>021-054-055-095-096-301200- DAWES-BOX BUTTE-SCOTTS BLUFF-BANNER-MORRILL-KIMBALL-CHEYENNE- NORTH SIOUX-SOUTH SIOUX- 1020 AM MST THU DEC 29 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN NEBRASKA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY ARCTIC AIR COMBINED WITH SOME SNOWFALL WILL MOST LIKELY CREATE SOME VERY DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS AND SLICK ROAD CONDITIONS NEXT WEEK. STAY TUNED TO FURTHER UPDATES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
913 PM MST THU DEC 29 2016
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0855 PM NON-TSTM WND GST BORDEAUX 41.95N 104.95W
12/29/2016 M57 MPH PLATTE WY DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
46 MPH SUSTAINED
&&
BCHAPMANThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
9 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A mesonet sensor near Wheatland measured a peak wind gust of 58 mph.
A mesonet sensor near Wheatland measured wind gusts of 58 mph or higher, with a peak gust of 59 mph at 30/0045 MST.
The WYDOT sensor at Bordeaux measured sustained winds of 40 mph or higher.
The WYDOT sensor at Arlington measured sustained winds of 40 mph or higher, with a peak gust of 64 mph at 30/0605 MST.
The WYDOT sensor at Wagonhound measured sustained winds of 40 mph or higher.
The WYDOT sensor at Foote Creek measured sustained winds of 40 mph or higher, with a peak gust of 61 mph at 30/0620 MST.
The WYDOT sensor at Arlington East measured sustained winds of 40 mph or higher, with a peak gust of 58 mph at 30/0600 MST.
The WYDOT sensor at Cooper Cove measured sustained winds of 40 mph or higher, with a peak gust of 63 mph at 30/0805 MST.
The WYDOT sensor at Halleck Ridge measured sustained winds of 40 mph or higher.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wyoming in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, December 2016
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: 676687, 676688, 676685, 676691, 676698, 676696, 676690, 676695, 676697.