A brief period of high wind gusts approaching 60 MPH was observed near Kimball during the pre-dawn hours on February 20th.
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The episode as NWS CYS wrote it up.
A brief period of high wind gusts approaching 60 MPH was observed near Kimball during the pre-dawn hours on February 20th.
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 Feb 19, 10:29 PM MST, 4 hours 26 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Cheyenne WY
1029 PM MST Sat Feb 19 2022
.UPDATE...
primarily reiterate the key messages and what has changed.
Winds: Most of the wind highlights have verified across are typically
wind prone areas. We are still watching the areas east of the
Laramie Range and the NE Panhandle. Those current High Wind Warnings
will expire at 5 AM MST Sunday. If this next round of winds dosen't
materialize or the observational trends aren't showing those high
winds, then the warning may be allowed to expire sooner.
Winter Weather: No changes of note concerning the incoming wintry
weather for Monday. Current forecast confidence continues to
increase that some winter highlights may be needed, especially
across Carbon and Albany county into late Monday evening.
Temperatures: Arctic front is still progged to bring potentially
record breaking cold temperatures to much of the area Tuesday
through Thursday. GEFS and GFS continues to trend colder from run to
run so we can confidently say Wind Chill Warnings will need to be
issued.
.SHORT TERM...(This evening through Monday afternoon)
Issued at 315 PM MST Sat Feb 19 2022
Primary concern in the short term will be the strong gusty winds
initially which are ongoing across portions of southeast Wyoming.
Forecast concerns will then shift towards the strong arctic cold
front currently pushing south into central Canada this afternoon.
This front is expected to be on Wyoming and Nebraska's doorstep by
late Sunday evening.
For the rest of today and tonight, current High Wind Warnings look
good with numerous locations observing gusts of 65 to 80 MPH,
especially in the wind prone areas. The only uncertainty is how
far east the strongest winds will be observed. Areas along and
west of Interstate 25 will likely continue to gust over 60 mph
tonight. Areas further east towards Banner/Scotts Bluff, and
Kimball counties are a bit less clear. Overall, models are showing
much less subsidence east of I-25 compared to 24 hours ago and a
stubborn lee-side surface trough remaining nearly stationary for
a while tonight near the Wyoming/Nebraska border. Had a hard time
keeping winds near criteria in that area, but went 5 to 8 knots
over guidance to keep forecast consistent. Other than that, kept
low temperatures on the mild side due to the strong downslope
winds. Lows in the mid 30s to low 40s are not out of the question
just east of the Laramie Range tonight.
For Sunday, strong winds will likely continue across the Wind
Prone areas of southeast Wyoming with diminishing winds elsewhere.
In fact, winds might remain elevated in the Arlington area until
late Sunday evening. May need to extend the current High Wind
Warning for that area into the evening hours, but will monitor
tomorrow morning's wind trends first. Otherwise, a pleasant but
breezy day is expected Sunday afternoon with highs likely in the
mid 50s to mid 60s across the eastern plains. Continued to push
the high temperatures above guidance ahead of the strong arctic
cold front, due to model cold-biases ahead of FROPA.
As mentioned, forecast concerns will quickly transition to snow
and the timing of the arctic cold front. By Sunday evening, this
front should just be near or north of a line from Gillette
Wyoming to Chadron Nebraska. The front will then push south across
the high plains and be located near the North Platte River valley
early Monday morning. Had trouble detecting any fog development
and/or freezing drizzle just behind the front, but added some fog
to the Laramie Range through early Monday morning. Kept freezing
drizzle out of the forecast for now since low level profiles
rapidly saturate just off the surface. Tricky Minimum temperature
forecast early Monday morning since it will greatly depend on the
location and speed of the arctic front. Went with an ensemble
blend which points to Niobrara County eastward into Dawes county
seeing the early arrival of arctic airmass with temperatures in
the single digits. This will also result in a difficult and low
confidence Maximum temperature forecast for Monday. Kept high
temperatures along the I-80 corridor around 30 degrees before
temperatures rapidly dip into the single digits in the afternoon.
Further north, expect highs around 10 degrees above zero. However,
this may all change if the speed of the front changes and/or the
front gets hung up on any mountains or ridges. By Monday
afternoon, fairly confident that widespread light snow will
develop across most of southeast Wyoming and western Nebraska.
There is really good ensemble and deterministic model agreement
with this solution, at least outside of southern Carbon County
region where the front may stall for a prolonged period of time.
Increased POP to around 90 percent. Models split the upper level
energy as the upper level trough rolls across the area. The
southern energy is what we have to keep an eye on as the GFS and
ECMWF shows a maximum of 700-500mb frontogenesis across Carbon and
Albany county into late Monday evening. This will likely be the
primary area of focus for possible Winter Storm Watches. Decided
to hold off on that this afternoon and focus on the winds...but
expect to address the snowfall concerns for Monday/late Monday
either tonight or Sunday morning.
.LONG TERM...(Sunday night through Saturday)
Issued at 206 PM MST Sat Feb 19 2022
Old Man Winter called... he wants to remind us what season it is!
After an unseasonably warm, and almost spring-like weekend, the
weather does a 180 and plummets us into the throes of winter with
snow and frigid temperatures.
Due to a persistent and sluggish upper-level trough, both snow and
frigid temperatures are expected to stick around for a couple days.
A prolonged light to moderate snow event is expected Monday through
Wednesday. Greatest snowfall rates look to occur between Monday
afternoon and Tuesday morning with the passage of the arctic front.
Agree with midnight shift that some of the deterministic models are
bullish on the QPF amounts given the very cold and dry nature of the
airmass behind the front. 6-hour QPF amounts of about 0.1" for the
lower elevations seems realistic for this event with snow
accumulations of 2 to 5 inches. Upslope flow will favor some pretty
good snow accumulation for the Sierra Madre and Snowy Ranges,
perhaps even in the north Snowy Range foothills. The mountains will
likely pick up about a foot of snow over the course of two days.
Guidance also suggests snow lingering in the mountains through
Wednesday, where they might pick up an additional few inches.
Up next is the unusual, and potentially record-breaking prolonged
cold snap expected Monday night through at least Thursday. Both the
NAEFS and ENS return intervals suggest that 700 mb temperatures on
Tuesday and Wednesday are highly anomalous, occurring about once
every 10 years in southeast Wyoming. Highs on Tuesday and Wednesday
will be in the single digits, some areas may not see temperatures
make it above zero. The potential for setting record breaking low
high temperatures is a strong possibility. Nighttime lows Monday
night through Wednesday night will be well-below zero, with some
sort of Wind Chill headlines likely needed for each of those nights.
By the end of the week things start to warm up... sort of. Highs on
Friday will still be 10 to 15 degrees below average for this time of
year. Saturday warms up a little more and by Sunday, temperatures
may be back to average as the upper-level troughing pattern finally
shifts far enough east for a brief ridge to move in.
&&
.SHORT TERM...(This evening through Monday afternoon)
Issued at 315 PM MST Sat Feb 19 2022
Primary concern in the short term will be the strong gusty winds
initially which are ongoing across portions of southeast Wyoming.
Forecast concerns will then shift towards the strong arctic cold
front currently pushing south into central Canada this afternoon.
This front is expected to be on Wyoming and Nebraska's doorstep by
late Sunday evening.
For the rest of today and tonight, current High Wind Warnings look
good with numerous locations observing gusts of 65 to 80 MPH,
especially in the wind prone areas. The only uncertainty is how
far east the strongest winds will be observed. Areas along and
west of Interstate 25 will likely continue to gust over 60 mph
tonight. Areas further east towards Banner/Scotts Bluff, and
Kimball counties are a bit less clear. Overall, models are showing
much less subsidence east of I-25 compared to 24 hours ago and a
stubborn lee-side surface trough remaining nearly stationary for
a while tonight near the Wyoming/Nebraska border. Had a hard time
keeping winds near criteria in that area, but went 5 to 8 knots
over guidance to keep forecast consistent. Other than that, kept
low temperatures on the mild side due to the strong downslope
winds. Lows in the mid 30s to low 40s are not out of the question
just east of the Laramie Range tonight.
For Sunday, strong winds will likely continue across the Wind
Prone areas of southeast Wyoming with diminishing winds elsewhere.
In fact, winds might remain elevated in the Arlington area until
late Sunday evening. May need to extend the current High Wind
Warning for that area into the evening hours, but will monitor
tomorrow morning's wind trends first. Otherwise, a pleasant but
breezy day is expected Sunday afternoon with highs likely in the
mid 50s to mid 60s across the eastern plains. Continued to push
the high temperatures above guidance ahead of the strong arctic
cold front, due to model cold-biases ahead of FROPA.
As mentioned, forecast concerns will quickly transition to snow
and the timing of the arctic cold front. By Sunday evening, this
front should just be near or north of a line from Gillette
Wyoming to Chadron Nebraska. The front will then push south across
the high plains and be located near the North Platte River valley
early Monday morning. Had trouble detecting any fog development
and/or freezing drizzle just behind the front, but added some fog
to the Laramie Range through early Monday morning. Kept freezing
drizzle out of the forecast for now since low level profiles
rapidly saturate just off the surface. Tricky Minimum temperature
forecast early Monday morning since it will greatly depend on the
location and speed of the arctic front. Went with an ensemble
blend which points to Niobrara County eastward into Dawes county
seeing the early arrival of arctic airmass with temperatures in
the single digits. This will also result in a difficult and low
confidence Maximum temperature forecast for Monday. Kept high
temperatures along the I-80 corridor around 30 degrees before
temperatures rapidly dip into the single digits in the afternoon.
Further north, expect highs around 10 degrees above zero. However,
this may all change if the speed of the front changes and/or the
front gets hung up on any mountains or ridges. By Monday
afternoon, fairly confident that widespread light snow will
develop across most of southeast Wyoming and western Nebraska.
There is really good ensemble and deterministic model agreement
with this solution, at least outside of southern Carbon County
region where the front may stall for a prolonged period of time.
Increased POP to around 90 percent. Models split the upper level
energy as the upper level trough rolls across the area. The
southern energy is what we have to keep an eye on as the GFS and
ECMWF shows a maximum of 700-500mb frontogenesis across Carbon and
Albany county into late Monday evening. This will likely be the
primary area of focus for possible Winter Storm Watches. Decided
to hold off on that this afternoon and focus on the winds...but
expect to address the snowfall concerns for Monday/late Monday
either tonight or Sunday morning.
.LONG TERM...(Sunday night through Saturday)
Issued at 206 PM MST Sat Feb 19 2022
Old Man Winter called... he wants to remind us what season it is!
After an unseasonably warm, and almost spring-like weekend, the
weather does a 180 and plummets us into the throes of winter with
snow and frigid temperatures.
Due to a persistent and sluggish upper-level trough, both snow and
frigid temperatures are expected to stick around for a couple days.
A prolonged light to moderate snow event is expected Monday through
Wednesday. Greatest snowfall rates look to occur between Monday
afternoon and Tuesday morning with the passage of the arctic front.
Agree with midnight shift that some of the deterministic models are
bullish on the QPF amounts given the very cold and dry nature of the
airmass behind the front. 6-hour QPF amounts of about 0.1" for the
lower elevations seems realistic for this event with snow
accumulations of 2 to 5 inches. Upslope flow will favor some pretty
good snow accumulation for the Sierra Madre and Snowy Ranges,
perhaps even in the north Snowy Range foothills. The mountains will
likely pick up about a foot of snow over the course of two days.
Guidance also suggests snow lingering in the mountains through
Wednesday, where they might pick up an additional few inches.
Up next is the unusual, and potentially record-breaking prolonged
cold snap expected Monday night through at least Thursday. Both the
NAEFS and ENS return intervals suggest that 700 mb temperatures on
Tuesday and Wednesday are highly anomalous, occurring about once
every 10 years in southeast Wyoming. Highs on Tuesday and Wednesday
will be in the single digits, some areas may not see temperatures
make it above zero. The potential for setting record breaking low
high temperatures is a strong possibility. Nighttime lows Monday
night through Wednesday night will be well-below zero, with some
sort of Wind Chill headlines likely needed for each of those nights.
By the end of the week things start to warm up... sort of. Highs on
Friday will still be 10 to 15 degrees below average for this time of
year. Saturday warms up a little more and by Sunday, temperatures
may be back to average as the upper-level troughing pattern finally
shifts far enough east for a brief ridge to move in.
&&
.AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Sunday night)
Issued at 1025 PM MST Sat Feb 19 2022
Wyoming TAFS...VFR. Wind gusts to 50 knots until 12Z, then gusts
to 35 knots. Low level wind shear at Rawlins until 08Z, at Laramie
until 14Z and at Cheyenne until 13Z.
Nebraska TAFS...VFR. Wind gusts to 30 knots until 01Z. Low level
wind shear at Chadron until 13Z, at Alliance until 11Z, at
Scottsbluff until 18Z and at Sidney until 16Z.
&&
.FIRE WEATHER...
Issued at 206 PM MST Sat Feb 19 2022
Very windy conditions expected for the next 24 hours ahead of a
strong arctic cold front as daytime humidities briefly drop around
20 percent today and Sunday. No fire weather concerns through the
end of next week due to expected periods of snow and bitter
cold/record cold temperatures.
&&
.CYS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WY...High Wind Warning until 11 AM MST Sunday for WYZ106-110-116-117.
High Wind Warning until 5 AM MST Sunday for WYZ107-108-115-118-
119.
NE...High Wind Warning until 5 AM MST Sunday for NEZ019-020-054.
&&
UPDATE...AW
SHORT TERM...TJT
LONG TERM...SF
AVIATION...RUBIN
FIRE WEATHER...TJTHazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Cheyenne WY 605 AM MST Sat Feb 19 2022 NEZ002-003-021-055-095-096-201315- Dawes County-Box Butte County-Morrill County-Cheyenne County- Northern Sioux County-Southern Sioux County- 605 AM MST Sat Feb 19 2022 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of panhandle Nebraska. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY Snow returns Monday through Wednesday of next week with bitterly cold temperatures behind an arctic front. Accumulations are possible that could impact travel. .Spotter information statement... Spotter activation will not be needed. WYZ101>105-109-111>114-201315- Converse County Lower Elevations-Niobrara County- North Laramie Range-Ferris/Seminoe/Shirley Mountains- Shirley Basin-Central Carbon County-Southwest Carbon County- Sierra Madre Range-Upper North Platte River Basin-Snowy Range- 605 AM MST Sat Feb 19 2022 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of east central Wyoming...south central Wyoming and southeast Wyoming. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT Strong winds today through Sunday morning could create serious blowoff and or blowover risks across much of southeast Wyoming. Additionally...these strong winds expected to create areas of blowing snow reducing visibility. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY Snow returns Monday through Wednesday of next week with bitterly cold temperatures behind an arctic front. Accumulations are possible that could impact travel. .Spotter information statement... Spotter activation will not be needed. NEZ019-020-054-WYZ106>108-110-115>119-201315- Scotts Bluff County-Banner County-Kimball County- Central Laramie Range and Southwest Platte County- East Platte County-Goshen County-North Snowy Range Foothills- Laramie Valley-South Laramie Range-South Laramie Range Foothills- Central Laramie County-East Laramie County- 605 AM MST Sat Feb 19 2022 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of panhandle Nebraska...south central Wyoming and southeast Wyoming. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT Strong winds this afternoon into Sunday morning could result in areas of blowing snow reducing visibility. High Wind Warnings are in effect through Sunday morning for the wind prone areas of southeast Wyoming...to include Arlington...Elk Mountain...the Interstate 80 Summit and eastern foothills...as well as Bordeaux on Interstate 25 for wind gusts in excess of 75 mph. High Wind Warnings are also in effect for Laramie...Cheyenne...Wheatland...Torrington...Scottsbluff and Kimball for wind gusts in excess of 60 mph. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY Snow returns Monday through Wednesday next week with bitterly cold temperatures behind an arctic front. Accumulations are possible that could impact travel. .Spotter information statement... Spotter activation will not be needed.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
1005 PM MST SAT FEB 19 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1002 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 1 SSE BORDEAUX 41.93N 104.94W
02/19/2022 M76 MPH PLATTE WY MESONET
MESONET STATION KBRX 1.4 S BORDEAUX (WYDOT).
&&
AWPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
1009 PM MST SAT FEB 19 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1006 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 1 SSE BORDEAUX 41.93N 104.94W
02/19/2022 M87 MPH PLATTE WY MESONET
MESONET STATION KBRX 1.4 S BORDEAUX (WYDOT).
&&
AWPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
1041 PM MST SAT FEB 19 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1039 PM HIGH SUST WINDS 1 SSE BORDEAUX 41.93N 104.94W
02/19/2022 M68 MPH PLATTE WY MESONET
MESONET STATION KBRX 1.4 S BORDEAUX (WYDOT).
&&
AWPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
1042 PM MST SAT FEB 19 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1036 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 1 SSE BORDEAUX 41.93N 104.94W
02/19/2022 M89 MPH PLATTE WY MESONET
MESONET STATION KBRX 1.4 S BORDEAUX (WYDOT).
&&
AWPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
1046 PM MST SAT FEB 19 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1042 PM HIGH SUST WINDS 1 SSE BORDEAUX 41.93N 104.94W
02/19/2022 M73 MPH PLATTE WY MESONET
MESONET STATION KBRX 1.4 S BORDEAUX (WYDOT).
&&
AWPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
1048 PM MST SAT FEB 19 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1046 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 1 SSE BORDEAUX 41.93N 104.94W
02/19/2022 M94 MPH PLATTE WY MESONET
MESONET STATION KBRX 1.4 S BORDEAUX (WYDOT).
&&
AWThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A brief wind gust to 59 MPH was observed at the Kimball Airport (KIBM) at 2:55 AM MST on 2/20.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, February 2022
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: 1008321.