A strong cold front dropped southward across Wyoming and brought high winds to some areas. Wind gusts over 58 mph were recorded in portions of Sublette, Big Horn and Johnson Counties.
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The episode as NWS RIW wrote it up.
A strong cold front dropped southward across Wyoming and brought high winds to some areas. Wind gusts over 58 mph were recorded in portions of Sublette, Big Horn and Johnson Counties.
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 Apr 28, 2:39 PM MST, 36 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Riverton WY 339 PM MDT Sun Apr 28 2019 .SHORT TERM...Tonight through Monday Gusty winds will continue to be the main threat across the forecast area. Winds this afternoon will shift to the north- northwest, as a cold front pushes south from MT. This will be a favorable direction for both the Bighorn Basin and Johnson County. 3-hour pressure rises behind the front continue to prog at 8 to 12mb. Winds could gust as high as 65 mph across these areas through Sunday evening, especially in the Cowley/Powell areas. We have upgraded to a High Wind Warning for eastern Park County, Big Horn County, and Northern Johnson. A good amount of cold air will accompany this front, so expect highs to be 10 to 15 degrees cooler than yesterday. The right front (exit) region of the jet will be over the southern half of the state. This, coupled with the strong temperature gradient associated with the front and 700mb winds of 30 to 40 kt, will produce winds of 30 to 35 mph (gusting up to 40 to 45 mph) across southern and southwestern portions this afternoon. The reflection of these jet-influenced winds have been occurring over Mount Coffin (elevation ~11000 feet) since Saturday afternoon. High winds have been localized so far today at the Big Piney airport, which has had a couple of gusts between 58-60 mph between 9 and 11 AM. Winds will slow overnight tonight and should be relatively lower across the area during the day Monday. Southern Wyoming will see some gusty northeast to east winds in the afternoon, but nothing out of the ordinary. With significant cold air still at the 700mb level and continued cloud cover, expect temperatures to stay cool with highs slightly lower than Sunday. Monday afternoon will also see an increased chance of precip, as the forecast area will be between a cutoff low over the Four Corners region and a second shortwave pushing out of Canada. 700mb temps are looking as mostly snow to start, but warm air advection west of the Divide will change south Wyoming over to rain by the evening hours. This could introduce an overrunning scenario over southern portions Monday afternoon. For now, any instability looks to remain well to the south over UT/CO. Areas east of the Divide are no looking favorable for upslope flow, as 700mb winds are easterly through much of the day Monday. .LONG TERM...Monday night through Sunday Rather active and still some uncertainty are the two words for the extended forecast. There will be potential for some decent snow across portions of the area although exact details are still uncertain since the models are continuing to have some differences. There are a lot of moving parts in this situation and as you know, the more moving parts, the more potential for things to break. The first uncertainty is for Monday night as a surge of moisture moves towards the area in association with the right rear quadrant of a jet streak. The core of the moisture looks to miss the area to the east and south but there will be some effects. The NAM is the furthest north, most bullish and wettest. The usually reliable European is the driest and further south and east with generally lighter amounts of precipitation. The GFS is somewhere in the middle. The majority of the guidance shows the core missing most of Sweetwater County. The exception would be across far southeastern portions of the county but since impacts would be minimal hear we will hold off on any highlights. Natrona County is an interesting case since there will be some dynamics. However, flow will be anywhere from southeast to southwest, which is downsloping flow for this area. A lot depends on small scale features that are hard to nail down. For now, we made few changes and will hold off on any highlights. It is the same dilemma for Tuesday into Tuesday night. All the models have a cloudy and chilly day but the details are still rather sketchy. The NAM keeps much of the precipitation to the east of the area. The GFS develops a good upslope flow into Johnson County and possibly Park County with easterly flow. The European is the wettest and brings a good slug of moisture into central and eastern areas Tuesday afternoon into Tuesday evening with the heaviest in the favored easterly and possibly northeastern upslope areas. Again, with the uncertainty we kept things fairly similar to continuity until there is better agreement. Conditions should gradually improve from west to east on Wednesday as the system moves away to the east and ridging builds into the area. Wednesday night looks to be a mainly cold and dry period. On Thursday isolated showers may creep in over the northwest mountains during the afternoon, but with zonal flow over the area most locations will stay dry and begin a warming trend through the weekend. Similar conditions on Friday and Saturday. Models continue to show an upper level low off the coast of California moving towards the region on Sunday night, but timing has slowed considerably and ridging may dominate through the period. Therefore, have kept precipitation chances on the low end through Sunday evening, keeping in mind these may need adjusted up as we come into better range. && .AVIATION...12Z Issuance West of the Divide...KBPI/KJAC/KPNA/KRKS Terminals VFR conditions will prevail at the terminal sites. Gusty winds will prevail at the terminal sites (except KJAC) until 02Z, then decrease. Gusty winds will continue through the TAF period at KRKS, turning north to northeast by 03Z. Some snow showers will occur in the NW WY mountains through this evening, with local MVFR conditions and mountain obscuration. Only isolated snow showers are expected after 03Z Monday. Increasing chances for rain showers will occur from the south to north after 14Z Monday. East of the Divide...KCOD/KCPR/KLND/KRIW/KWRL Terminals VFR conditions will prevail at the terminal sites through the period. Gusty winds will prevail at the terminal sites into this evening, before decreasing between 05Z and 09Z Monday. Some snow showers will occur over the Bighorn mountains today into this evening with local MVFR conditions and mountain obscuration. Snow showers will develop over the Wind River Mountains by 03Z Monday and continue through 13Z. && .FIRE WEATHER... A cold front will move across the area today. Little precipitation is expected with this system outside the higher elevations. Strong northerly winds will occur in the Bighorn Basin and Johnson County behind the front this afternoon. Gusts of 50 to 65 mph will be possible in these areas through this evening. Gusty winds will occur across the rest of the forecast area as well. Temperatures will be 10 to 15 degrees cooler than yesterday, as clouds and cold air move in. Smoke dispersal will be very good to excellent across the area. && .RIW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Warning until 9 PM MDT this evening for WYZ004. High Wind Warning until 11 PM MDT this evening for WYZ010. && SHORT TERM...LaVoie LONG TERM...Hattings/Myers AVIATION...LaVoie FIRE WEATHER...LaVoie
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Riverton WY 338 AM MDT Sun Apr 28 2019 WYZ001>020-022>030-291200- 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- 338 AM MDT Sun Apr 28 2019 ...High Wind Warning for Big Horn and Northern Johnson Counties this afternoon and evening... This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for Western and Central Wyoming. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. Accumulating snow possible in the Northern Mountains. Strong to high winds in the Bighorn Basin and Johnson County this afternoon and evening. The strongest winds are expected to occur in Big Horn County and Northern Johnson County. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday. Monday through Wednesday morning...Inclement and cool as a couple storm systems impact the Cowboy State. These systems will bring chances of mountain snow, and a combination of valley rain and snow. Significant mountain snow is possible at times mainly over the Bighorn, Absaroka and parts of the Wind River Mountains. Some accumulating snow is also possible in the lower elevations. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotters please report any wind damage.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY
1201 PM MDT SUN APR 28 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0853 AM NON-TSTM WND GST BIG PINEY 42.54N 110.12W
04/28/2019 M58 MPH SUBLETTE WY ASOS
1050 AM NON-TSTM WND GST BIG PINEY 42.54N 110.12W
04/28/2019 M59 MPH SUBLETTE WY ASOS
1112 AM NON-TSTM WND GST BIG PINEY 42.54N 110.12W
04/28/2019 M58 MPH SUBLETTE WY ASOS
&&
NM/TLThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High winds occurred in portions of Big Horn County. Some of the strongest gusts included 64 mph at the Cowley airport and 61 mph at the Greybull airport.
A maximum wind gust of 59 mph was recorded at the Big Piney airport.
Strong winds occurred in portions of northern Johnson County. Some of the notable wind gusts included 62 mph at the Buffalo airport and 64 mph along Interstate 90 East of Buffalo.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wyoming in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, April 2019
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: 819447, 819445, 819449.