A cold front crossed Wyoming and brought high winds to portions of central Wyoming. The|strongest wind gusts occurred in and near the Absaroka Range.
Every event with a place to put it; 7 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 RIW wrote it up.
A cold front crossed Wyoming and brought high winds to portions of central Wyoming. The|strongest wind gusts occurred in and near the Absaroka Range. A maximum wind gust of 88 mph occurred along the Chief Joseph Highway and 85 mph to the west of Clark. Wind gusts of 58 mph also occurred in Natrona, Fremont, 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 Jan 30, 9:29 PM MST, 6 hours 17 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Riverton WY 929 PM MST Sun Jan 30 2022 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Tuesday) Issued at 300 PM MST Sun Jan 30 2022 Partly to mostly sunny sky with passing high clouds this afternoon. Breezy to windy in the central wind corridor and in parts of the northwest. Wide range of temperatures again with 40s and 50s east of the divide with 30s where deeper snow cover exists. In the west, the inversion is holding with teens and 20s common. One forecast issue tonight will be low temps. Mainly high clouds will occur through midnight, then clouds will be increasing and lowering over the northwest ahead of the weather system. Some light snow may develop toward 12Z in the northwest. Lows will be in the teens and 20s east of the divide with a few places in the 30s due to the wind. In the west, lows will be in the single digits above and below zero with colder spots around 10 below zero. The other forecast issue late tonight through Monday will be the high wind potential in the favored locations in the Cody foothills and parts of the central wind corridor. The 700MB gradient is favorable per the GFS/NAM models and other high resolution wind models are showing surface/boundary layer wind speeds exceeding criteria. So have posted a high wind watch for 4 zones. Later shifts can evaluate the upcoming model runs and decide its fate. Monday looks to be windy over many other locations as the weather system passes through the region. The weather system will pass through the region Monday and exit Monday night. Snow will occur in the west, decreasing during the afternoon. Looks to be 1 to 2 inches in the far west valleys with 2 to 6 inches in the high country and Yellowstone National Park. The rest of the region will be dry Monday with breezy to windy conditions. High temperatures will be in the 40s east of the divide. The far western valleys caught in the inversion for the past several days will see a warmup Monday. Highs will be in the 20s to lower 30s in the west. Snow showers will linger in the western mountains Monday night with some light snow possible in the northern Bighorn mountains late Mon night. Dry elsewhere. It will remain breezy to windy during the evening east of the divide, with the wind decreasing by midnight. Lows will be in the single digits and teens with some below zero lows in the western valleys. Tuesday will be seasonably cold with highs in the 20s with teens in the west. Lingering light snow in the mountains on Tuesday with light accumulations. It looks to be dry over the lower elevations. .LONG TERM...(Tuesday night through Sunday) Issued at 300 PM MST Sun Jan 30 2022 Light snow, mainly across the northwest mountains will diminish as the initial shortwave slides east. The main part of the trough will begin to dig Tuesday into the region. With the newer model runs, the ECMWF has come to be more in line with the GFS with the trough axis across WY rather than the Dakotas. The NAM, which now includes the beginning of this event, also is along these same lines, however, there does still remain some inconsistency between models at this time. We expect models to come into better agreement and consistency over the next day or two. In general, looking at a digging trough over the state Tuesday night into Wednesday. Wednesday, the trough will begin to get pushed east by an amplifying ridge across the Pacific northwest, promoting WAA into the weekend. With the trough, we are looking at two primary concerns. The first of which is much colder temperatures. The push of cold air looks to occur Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Models are still progging 700mb temps between -20 and -25 by mid-day Wednesday. High temperatures Wednesday will certainly struggle to warm up beyond the low teens or even single digits for many locations, with the exception of Sweetwater county where the cold air does not look to be as intense. Thursday morning's lows will likely be the coldest of the season thus far for many areas. These will be exaggerated if clear skies prevail overnight, which would lead to intense radiational cooling in the basins. Actual temperatures will likely be dependent on the amount of cooling, but in general looking at anywhere from -5 to -15F in the central basins and -10 to -20F in the western basins. Some of the coldest locations could see even colder with clear skies. NBM continues to be too warm with this, though is getting better, so have continued to blend with colder model guidance. The warm air advection behind the trough will be enough to quickly warm things up into the weekend, but it will be difficult to scour out the cold basins even with the WAA. Should get enough warm air to mix out the cold air by Friday to see temps in the upper 20s to possibly 30s across the central basins. The other concern with the trough will be some light snow Tuesday and Wednesday. Snow ratios will be around 15:1, so any flurries that fall will accumulate, but snow will be very fluffy and light. Best chances for snow will be across northern and eastern areas. Many areas will see at least a dusting of snow with up to an inch possible where some more persistent snow bands occur (likely Natrona County and parts of eastern Fremont County as well as portions of eastern Bighorn Basin). The mountains and higher elevation areas may also see a couple additional inches of snow. Definitely not looking at highlight amounts anywhere as it will be too cold to get any real snow banding or accumulations. && .AVIATION...For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Tuesday West of the Divide...KBPI/KJAC/KPNA/KRKS Terminals VFR and mainly light winds will continue to prevail through 15Z. A frontal boundary will pass through the region between 12Z and 15Z Monday. Locally MVFR cigs are possible with the passage of the boundary at all terminals, but otherwise VFR conditions are expected at all terminals except KJAC through the end of the period. Light snow will filter into areas west of the Divide, particularly KJAC by 15Z Monday behind the boundary. MVFR cigs/vsby will be possible at KJAC at times due to the light snow showers. KPNA may also see some snow showers in the vicinity by 18Z Monday. Gusty west to northwesterly winds will also be possible at all terminals after 15Z Monday through the end of the TAF period. East of the Divide...KCOD/KCPR/KLND/KRIW/KWRL Terminals A frontal boundary will pass through the region between 12Z and 15Z Monday. Locally MVFR cigs are possible with the passage of the boundary at all terminals, but otherwise, VFR conditions will be prevailing through the end of the period. Gusty southwest to westerly winds will continue at KCOD and KCPR. KCPR will see the strongest winds with gusts 35 to 40kt possible through 02Z. Behind the boundary, KRIW and KLND may also see gusty winds by 18Z and continue through 00Z. Please see the Aviation Weather Center and/or CWSU ZDV and ZLC for the latest information on icing and turbulence forecasts. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued AT 300 PM MST Sun Jan 30 2022 Dry tonight with breezy to windy areas in the central zones and parts of northwest Wyoming. Monday will be mostly dry along and east of the divide. It will be windy to very windy in the south and central zones and parts of the northwest Monday. Snow will occur in the western mountains Monday and in the far west valleys. Snow showers will linger in the west Monday night. Some light snow is possible in the Northern Bighorn mountains Monday night and Tuesday. The rest of the region will see dry weather Monday night and Tuesday. Smoke dispersal will be good to very good on Monday due to the mixing and wind, then fair to good on Tuesday. && .RIW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Warning from 2 AM to 5 PM MST Monday for WYZ003-015- 019-020. && SHORT TERM...AR LONG TERM...Hensley AVIATION...LaVoie FIRE WEATHER...AR
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Riverton WY 931 PM MST Sun Jan 30 2022 WYZ001>020-022>030-010445- 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- 931 PM MST Sun Jan 30 2022 ...High Wind Warning for parts of Central and Northwest Wyoming late Tonight through Monday afternoon... This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for Western and Central Wyoming. .DAY ONE...Tonight. Very windy conditions will develop in parts of Central and Northwest Wyoming after midnight. See High Wind Warning Statement for more details. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday. Monday...Windy to very windy across much of the area, especially across central and southern areas. Light snow expected across the west. Tuesday night through Wednesday...Light snow possible across western and central areas. Much colder temperatures with very cold wind chill values. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Weather spotters are encouraged to report significant weather conditions according to standard operating procedures.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Winds gusted as high as 85 mph to the west of Clark.
Wind speeds were sustained at over 50 mph for more than an hour along the Chief Joseph Highway. The maximum wind gust registered was 88 mph.
High wind gusts occurred in typically wind-prone areas on the south side of Casper. The maximum wind gust was 67 mph along Wyoming Boulevard.
A 58 mph wind gust occurred at Hunt Field in Lander.
A maximum wind gust of 65 mph was reported near Tisdale Divide along Interstate 25 in southern Johnson County.
A 58 mph wind gust occurred at the Dubois Airport.
High winds, with a peak gust of 65 mph, occurred at Thermopolis.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wyoming in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, January 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: 1003700, 1003699, 1003698, 1003695, 1003697, 1003694, 1003696.