A brief period of high winds impacted Interstate 80 between Rawlins and Laramie.
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 CYS wrote it up.
A brief period of high winds impacted Interstate 80 between Rawlins and Laramie.
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 Mar 13, 8:24 PM MST, 4 hours 51 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Cheyenne WY 924 PM MDT Mon Mar 13 2017 .UPDATE... Issued at 924 PM MDT Mon Mar 13 2017 Issued a High Wind Warning for the Arlington, Elk Mountain areas of SE Wyoming. Already getting winds periodically sustained near 40 mph with gusts at Strouss Hill section of I-80 near 60 mph over the past hour at times. Arlington has seen gusts around 52 mph with periods sustained near 40 mph...and models have winds coming up tonight as we see 700 mb winds across that area increase to near 55 kts. NAM has the Craig to Casper gradient increasing 06Z- 09Z then tapering back after 12Z. Looking at the GFS, it would suggest the strongest winds will be in the 09Z-15Z timeframe. UPDATE Issued at 539 PM MDT Mon Mar 13 2017 Still getting wind gusts to near 50 mph at Arlington, with sustained at gusts remaining just a few notches below High Wind Warning Criteria. Trend last couple of hours has been down with gusts, but still thinking potential for an uptick on speeds in the wind prone areas bewteen Laramie and Rawlins, and between Cheyenne and Wheatland will be there late tonight. Will continue with Special Weather Statements as long as gusts continue to hit near 50 mph up there, and will continue to monitor for potential upgrading to High Wind Warning should inversion tonight not stave off surge of higher winds as discussed by dayshift short term forecaster. && .SHORT TERM...(Tonight - Wednesday) Issued at 230 PM MDT Mon Mar 13 2017 The Arlington area remains windy this afternoon with wind gusts in the 50-55 MPH range with occasional gusts around 58 MPH. Sustained winds have been sporadic enough to be able to cover w/ an SPS, but will still need to monitor this afternoon. CAG-CPR gradients hover around 50 meters through the evening/overnight, so expecting winds to remain gusty through Tuesday morning. Flow aloft strengthens to 50-60 knots at 700 mb over the wind corridors by 12z Tue. Limiting factor for warning-criteria gust potential will be the presence of a strong near-surface inversion indicated by model x-sections. Any mountain waves could produce a gust to 60 MPH, but no solid signal to warrant headline issuance at this time. Wind threats are likely to diminish by late Tue morning with weakening gradients. A warmer day for Tuesday as upper-level ridging builds into the region, and H7 temps climb into the 0C to +2C range. There is potential for 60 degree readings over the high plains, but high clouds may still be rather thick with the upper jet to the northeast. That being said, the current forecast may be a bit optimistic but overall expect to see a warmer column. A weak front may contribute to isolated rain/ snow shower activity over our northeast zones Tuesday evening into Wednesday, but no impacts expected from this. Warming trend should continue into Wednesday afternoon as the ridge axis moves overhead and large scale subsidence promotes more sunshine. .LONG TERM...(Wednesday Night - Monday) Issued at 230 PM MDT Mon Mar 13 2017 Quite mild conditions expected across the CWA this period especially during the weekend with dry weather for the most part as well. There will be one upper shortwave pass across late Thursday that will bring a few rain and snow showers as well as a minor push of cooler air. An upper ridge will amplify over the region late Friday through Saturday resulting in the warm temperatures with highs well into the 70s east of the mtns both Saturday and Sunday. Upper flow backs slowly Sunday and Monday as the upper ridge axis shifts east of the area with weak impulses and some increase in moisture possibly returning some pcpn to the CWA then. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Tuesday evening) Issued at 539 PM MDT Mon Mar 13 2017 Mainly a wind forecast for the next 24 hours, with less wind expected at the lower elevations east of I-25 tonight and a bit more to the west, although not nearly as strong as what we saw the previous few days. Overall ceilings and visibilities expected to remain VFR through tomorrow with some passing mid-level clouds. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 440 AM MDT Mon Mar 13 2017 Fire weather concerns will remain low today and Tuesday with relative humidity values of 20 percent or higher. Westerly winds will remain elevated in the wind prone areas of southeast Wyoming. Humidity values may fall into the upper teens on Wednesday and Thursday across the southern WY/NE plains near the Colorado border, but wind gusts here look to remain below 25 mph at this time. && .CYS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WY...High Wind Warning until 11 AM MDT Tuesday for WYZ110. NE...None. && UPDATE...JG SHORT TERM...CLH LONG TERM...RE AVIATION...JG FIRE WEATHER...RJM
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Cheyenne WY 435 AM MDT Mon Mar 13 2017 NEZ002-003-019>021-054-055-095-096-WYZ101>119-141045- Dawes-Box Butte-Scotts Bluff-Banner-Morrill-Kimball-Cheyenne- North Sioux-South Sioux-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- 435 AM MDT Mon Mar 13 2017 This hazardous weather outlook is for Southeast Wyoming and the Western Nebraska Panhandle. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .Spotter information statement... Spotter activation will not be needed.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
836 PM MDT MON MAR 13 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0821 PM NON-TSTM WND GST ARLINGTON 41.59N 106.21W
03/13/2017 M52 MPH CARBON WY DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
36 MPH SUSTAINED
0826 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 15 NNE CENTENNIAL 41.50N 106.00W
03/13/2017 M60 MPH ALBANY WY DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
34 MPH SUSTAINED
&&
BCHAPMANPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
941 PM MDT MON MAR 13 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0925 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 7 ESE ARLINGTON 41.55N 106.08W
03/13/2017 M51 MPH CARBON WY DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
41 MPH SUSTAINED
0921 PM NON-TSTM WND GST ARLINGTON 41.59N 106.21W
03/13/2017 M52 MPH CARBON WY DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
39 MPH SUSTAINED
&&
BCHAPMANThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The WYDOT sensor at Cooper Cove measured sustained winds of 40 mph or higher, with a peak gust of 58 mph at 14/0220 MST.
The WYDOT sensor at Arlington measured peak wind gusts of 58 mph.
The WYDOT sensor at Strouss Hill measured peak wind gusts of 50 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wyoming in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, March 2017
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: 689525, 689524, 689526.