Strong mid level winds mixing down to the surface produced some very strong winds in the Cody foothills. The strongest winds were around the Clark area where several wind gusts of hurricane force were recorded, including a maximum of 107 mph.
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The episode as NWS RIW wrote it up.
Strong mid level winds mixing down to the surface produced some very strong winds in the Cody foothills. The strongest winds were around the Clark area where several wind gusts of hurricane force were recorded, including a maximum of 107 mph. Strong winds even extended toward more populated areas, where a 63 mph wind gust was reported in the west side of Cody.
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 Nov 14, 3:52 AM MST, 8 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...CORRECTED National Weather Service Riverton WY 352 AM MST Mon Nov 14 2016 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT A ripple in the anticyclonic flow is stirring up the wind in areas susceptible to west or northwest winds. This weather feature is marked by a batch of high clouds tracking southeast as they bisect a band of amplifying lee enhanced cloudiness. This weather feature will be accompanied by a weak front and a hint of a mtn top inversion/critical layer. This pattern is conducive to strong winds for the greater Clark area as we wait with baited breath for the high winds forecast for that area. The high wind warning will remain in place until at least 5 pm this afternoon with all the rest of the dynamics coming together, namely the right front quad of the jet max, surfacing 45kt 700mb nw winds aloft, sfc lee side trough in place, as well as an 11 degree Celsius temp gradient at 700mb between YNP and Clark amplifying gap flow. The southern wind corridor will get their typical wsw 20-30 winds. We will probably see some spotty precip in the nw mtns this morning. As a flattening ridge builds into the area from the west, the brisk flow will back to the west by tonight. West southwest winds will continue through Tuesday and Wednesday along the southern wind corridor and the east slope of the divide with the strongest gradient maxing out Wednesday ahead of a strong trough of low pressure which will be making landfall onto the Pacific coast. Overall, these winds will likely raise the temps through Tuesday when some areas east of the dvd will break records with mid to upper 60 degree readings. Isentropic lift way out ahead of this trough will bring some light rain turning to snow during the day Wednesday over the nw mtns with the band of rain spreading southeast across the state Wednesday night with the turn over to snow remaining mostly over north and west WY and in the higher elevations above 6500 feet or so as a cold front sweeps south across WY. However, by 12z Thursday, most areas should turning to snow where ever there is precip. The precip Wednesday nt will be due to the increasing southerly difluent flow ahead of the closing low over the Great Salt Flats per the slower GFS within the increasingly negatively tilted trough. The latest run of the ECMWF races the trough axis to WY by 12z Thu so will go with something between the timing of the slower GFS and the faster Euro and assume we will still be underneath a southerly difluent flow Wed nt. .LONG TERM...THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY Synopsis...Upper trough will push across the Rockies on Thursday with areas of snow and much colder temperatures with most highs only in the 30s across the valleys and basins. Snow will taper off from west to east Thursday night and Friday morning as cool surface high pressure slides into the area. An upper ridge of high pressure will bring dry weather with a warming trend next weekend. Discussion...November 17th looks highly probable for the first measurable snowfall of the season for several locations across central Wyoming: Location Latest Date of 1st Snowfall >= 0.1 inch Casper 11/18/2015 Cody 12/13/1999 Green River 12/4/1954 Lander 12/7/1914 Downtown Riverton 12/10/1963 ECMWF remains more consistent than GFS moving open upper trough across the Rockies on Thursday, and out across the central/northern plains on Thursday night. Surface lee cyclogenesis continues over eastern Colorado Thursday morning with this low lifting NE Thursday afternoon. Models (except latest GFS with its closed upper low) have been showing heavier band of precipitation developing in difluent flow ahead of the upper trough with more of an eastward shift of this band across central Wyoming Thursday morning. WPC probabilistic forecasts of liquid precipitation amounts >=0.25 also reflect this development with 50 percent or greater probabilities across portions of central Wyoming with the highest probabilities across the Wind River Range. These areas will need to be watched over the next couple of days to see if models align up to this solution. ECMWF moves most of the snow out of the area by midnight Thursday night while slower GFS lingers wraparound snow showers across the area through Friday. Forecast not quite as quick as the ECMWF, but we have most of the showers out of the area after 12z Friday. Upper ridge axis translates the area on Saturday with next Pacific trough expected to split along the coast Sunday/Monday. Temperatures will be a challenge next weekend if we get some snow cover in the basins, but we are going with a return of above normal temperatures on Sunday for now. && .AVIATION.../12Z ISSUANCE/ The main concern through the forecast period will be breezy to windy west to southwest wind in the wind corridors, lee side of mountain ranges and adjacent foothills. In addition there could be areas of marginal low-level wind shear especially in the foothills where winds decouple. Otherwise...VFR conditions with variable mid and high level cloudiness. The exception to this could be some widely scattered showers with MVFR conditions over far northwest Wyoming, mainly impacting Yellowstone. && .FIRE WEATHER... Winds aloft will increase as A weak pacific low pressure trough moves across southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan and Montana brushing northern Wyoming. This will bring increased cloud cover with a few snow showers over the northwest mountains. West to southwest winds are expected to continue to increase along and near the east slopes of the mountains east of the Continental Divide and across the south into southern Fremont and Natrona counties. The strongest wind is expected in the Absaroka mountains and the Cody foothills where high wind warnings are in effect from 8 pm mst this evening through 6 pm mst Monday. Strong winds can be expected in the upper wind river canyon around Dubois and over South Pass and Beaver Rim. The lower air mass will be stable with inversions over the western valleys and basins. In areas with light wind smoke dispersal will be poor to locally fair. The best chance for smoke dispersal above poor will be in the foothills to mid slope areas and across the south with increased wind providing better mixing and good smoke dispersal in Park...Sweetwater...southern Fremont and Natrona counties. && .RIW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Warning until 5 PM MST this afternoon for WYZ002-003. && SHORT TERM...Lipson LONG TERM...AEM AVIATION...WM FIRE WEATHER...Lipson
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY 354 AM MST MON NOV 14 2016 WYZ001>020-022>030-151100- YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK-ABSAROKA MOUNTAINS-CODY FOOTHILLS- NORTH BIG HORN BASIN-SOUTHWEST BIG HORN BASIN- SOUTHEAST BIG HORN BASIN-OWL CREEK AND BRIDGER MOUNTAINS- BIGHORN MOUNTAINS WEST-BIGHORN MOUNTAINS SOUTHEAST- NORTHEAST JOHNSON COUNTY-SOUTHEAST JOHNSON COUNTY- TETON AND GROS VENTRE MOUNTAINS-JACKSON HOLE- WIND RIVER MOUNTAINS WEST-WIND RIVER MOUNTAINS EAST- UPPER WIND RIVER BASIN-WIND RIVER BASIN-LANDER FOOTHILLS- GREEN MOUNTAINS AND RATTLESNAKE RANGE- NATRONA COUNTY LOWER ELEVATIONS-CASPER MOUNTAIN-STAR VALLEY- SALT RIVER AND WYOMING RANGES-UPPER GREEN RIVER BASIN FOOTHILLS- UPPER GREEN RIVER BASIN-SOUTH LINCOLN COUNTY- ROCK SPRINGS AND GREEN RIVER-FLAMING GORGE-EAST SWEETWATER COUNTY- 354 AM MST MON NOV 14 2016 ...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR TODAY FOR THE CODY FOOTHILLS AND ADJACENT ABSAROKA MOUNTAINS... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT HIGH WINDS WILL OCCUR ACROSS THE CODY FOOTHILLS AND ADJACENT ABSAROKA MOUNTAINS TODAY. PLEASE SEE THE LATEST HIGH WIND WARNING FOR MORE INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY TUESDAY...WINDY AREAS COMBINED WITH WARM AND DRY CONDITIONS WILL RESULT IN ELEVATED FIRE DANGER ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL WYOMING, ESPECIALLY IN NATRONA COUNTY. WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL BRING INCREASING SNOW AND WIND TO THE WEST WEDNESDAY; SNOW MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY MORNING. WARM AND WINDY CONDITIONS WILL PRECEDE THE COLD FRONT ACROSS SOUTH AND CENTRAL WYOMING WEDNESDAY. A COLD FRONT WILL BRING GUSTY NORTH WIND AND AREAS OF SNOW ACROSS CENTRAL WYOMING LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT WIND GUSTS OF 40 MPH OR GREATER. THANK YOU. TEAM RIVERTON
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Many wind gusts past 58 mph were reported in the Cody foothills, including a maximum gust of 107 mph 5 miles WNW of Clark.
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, November 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: 663207.