Wyoming, 2016

High Wind in Wyoming, October 31, 2016

October 31, 2016 · NWS BYZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A strong Pacific front moved across the state during the morning and afternoon hours of the 31st. Strong pressure rises behind the front resulted in high wind gusts across portions of the Billings Forecast area.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS BYZ wrote it up.

A strong Pacific front moved across the state during the morning and afternoon hours of the 31st. Strong pressure rises behind the front resulted in high wind gusts across portions of the Billings Forecast area.

What forecasters said that day

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 Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 31, 2:07 AM MST, 1 hour 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 31, 2:07 AM MST, 1 hour 59 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 30, 2:13 PM MST, 13 hours 53 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
313 PM MDT SUN OCT 30 2016

MTZ028>042-056>058-063>068-WYZ098-099-302215-
SOUTHERN WHEATLAND-MUSSELSHELL-TREASURE-NORTHERN ROSEBUD-CUSTER-
FALLON-NORTHERN STILLWATER-YELLOWSTONE-POWDER RIVER-CARTER-
SOUTHERN BIG HORN-EASTERN CARBON-NORTHERN PARK-
NORTHERN SWEET GRASS-GOLDEN VALLEY-RED LODGE FOOTHILLS-
NORTHERN BIG HORN-SOUTHERN ROSEBUD-JUDITH GAP-PARADISE VALLEY-
LIVINGSTON AREA-BEARTOOTH FOOTHILLS-ABSAROKA/BEARTOOTH MOUNTAINS-
CRAZY MOUNTAINS-NORTHEAST BIGHORN MOUNTAINS-SHERIDAN FOOTHILLS-
313 PM MDT SUN OCT 30 2016

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL
MONTANA...SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA...SOUTHEAST MONTANA AND NORTH
CENTRAL WYOMING.

GUSTY WINDS WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE FOOTHILLS OF AREA MOUNTAINS
WITH GUSTS OF 40 TO 55 MPH AT TIMES LATE TONIGHT. THESE STRONGER
WINDS WILL MOVE DOWN INTO THE LOWER ELEVATIONS AND ACROSS THE
PLAINS MONDAY MORNING...PERSISTING INTO THE AFTERNOON HOURS. BE
ALERT FOR SUDDEN STRONG CROSSWINDS THAT WILL MAKE DRIVING
DIFFICULT.

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Sheridan Foothills

When
October 31, 4:06 AM MST
Where
Sheridan Foothills forecast zone
Measured
51 kt (59 mph) measured gust
Reported by
ASOS

A gust of 59 mph was recorded at the Sheridan Airport.

What these are

High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Wyoming in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, October 2016

Sources

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: 660000.