A cold front swept across Wyoming and brought high wind to portions of western and central Wyoming. The highest wind gust recorded was 78 mph along Highway 28 in the Red Canyon area of south pass.
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The episode as NWS RIW wrote it up.
A cold front swept across Wyoming and brought high wind to portions of western and central Wyoming. The highest wind gust recorded was 78 mph along Highway 28 in the Red Canyon area of south pass. Other wind gusts over 58 mph were reported Lincoln and Johnson Counties. A high based shower brought a wind gust of 61 mph to the Lander airport in the morning.
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 Sep 17, 3:53 AM MST, 3 hours 57 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Riverton WY 453 AM MDT Tue Sep 17 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Widely scattered rain showers and thunderstorms this morning west of the Divide that will spread east in the afternoon. - A cold front pushes through west to east from late morning through mid afternoon with gusty west to north of westerly winds behind it, some of which could be high wind warning criteria. - Cooler temperatures for the rest of the week and into the weekend with continued precipitation chances throughout as well. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 122 AM MDT Tue Sep 17 2024 IR currently depicts some dry air intrusion across the CWA ahead of the main upper level low pushing across Nevada. Any rain shower activity has dissipated and pushed into Montana out of the Bighorn Basin. An upper level shortwave will begin to push out of northern Utah/eastern Idaho by mid morning that will spark some widely scattered rain showers and isolated thunderstorms west of the Divide. Another area of note will be from Sweetwater County up to Natrona with an area of surface convergence ahead of the cold front. This will all spread north and east into the afternoon hours becoming more numerous with daytime heating. Hi-Res models are picking up on leeside cyclogenesis along the triple point off the Bighorns that will strengthen these aforementioned thunderstorms along the I-25 corridor by 3-4PM before exiting to the east in a short hour or two. Main concerns will be with damaging winds as the main threat with the support a strong mid level jet over 50kts that will aid in mixing to the surface in this area of Johnson County east of the interstate. Otherwise, the bulk of the main energy will be well east of the CWA where more ample CAPE and steeper lapse rates will be. The main concern outside of precipitation activity will be with FROPA and wind shifting out of the west to north of west. Timing is more aligned with the models improving confidence of pushing out of Idaho by late morning and progressing east through the afternoon hours exiting east by 4-5PM. On the backside of the low, moisture will wrap back into northwestern portions of the state with the occlusion emphasizing the stronger winds with CAA. Wind gusts up to 50-60 mph are possible in some areas of the Cody Foothills (funneling) and into eastern parts of Fremont County and Natrona County as well. Other areas will see winds up to 40-50 mph, staying below any high wind thresholds. Precipitation will be for the northern third of the CWA with mountain snow likely for elevations of the Winds, Tetons, and Absarokas over around 8kft as the cold air pushes in behind the aforementioned cold front. Nothing significant in accumulations but a decent amount as the first bigger snow of the season. Lower elevations will see rain showers progress east into the Bighorn Basin after midnight and into Wednesday morning. Precipitation will linger in these areas into the afternoon as winds decrease by late morning and into the afternoon with a diminishing gradient behind the occlusion. A more stratiform type event through the afternoon and evening with the cooler air making its way across the CWA. Afternoon high temperatures will be in the 50s and 60s for points west of the Divide (and some even cooler), with 60s to low 70s to the east for the remainder of the week and into the weekend. Induced upper level ridging ahead of another deepening low making its way down the west coast for Thursday the the CWA remaining mostly dry for most. The EC has the low cutting off well to the south pushing across the Four Corner Region late week with the bulk of the greater impacts out of the state. Regardless, continued cooler temperatures and unsettled weather with daily precipitation chances to include snow in the higher elevations into the weekend and the extended forecast. && .AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 433 AM MDT Tue Sep 17 2024 VFR conditions to start the period for all TAF sites with scattered mid level clouds and light varying winds through mid to late morning. Rain showers and possible thunderstorms after 15Z at JAC spreading east with time after 16Z for RKS, 17Z for BPI/PNA, 19Z for CPR, RIW, and LND, and 21Z at COD and WRL. These will last for several hours as winds increase with an approaching cold front before turning more westerly after around 21-01Z west to east. Winds will be reinforced at RKS, COD, and LND on the backside of the low with additional rain showers for JAC, COD, and WRL after 04-06Z through the end of the period. Points south will remain dry overnight into Wednesday morning with winds eventually diminishing after sunrise and into the morning hours. Confidence at a medium level with precipitation timing but still a bit of uncertainty with models and the overall widespread sporadic nature of coverage. Please see the Aviation Weather Center and/or CWSU ZDV and ZLC for the latest information on icing and turbulence forecasts. && .RIW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Watch from late tonight through Wednesday morning for WYZ003-019-020. && DISCUSSION...Lowe AVIATION...Lowe
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Riverton WY 202 AM MDT Tue Sep 17 2024 WYZ001>020-022>030-181215- Yellowstone National Park-Absaroka Mountains-Cody Foothills- North Bighorn Basin-Southwest Bighorn Basin-Southeast Bighorn 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- 202 AM MDT Tue Sep 17 2024 ...HIGH WIND WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING... This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for Western and Central Wyoming. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. Widely scattered rain showers and thunderstorms expected west of the Divide this morning spreading to the east in the afternoon. Strong to severe storms could produce damaging winds up to 50 to 60 mph across the I-25 corridor mid to late afternoon. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday. Strong winds behind a cold front likely overnight into Wednesday morning with areas of the Cody Foothills to eastern Fremont and Natrona Counties seeing west to north of west winds gusting up to 50 to 60 mph before diminishing by noon. Continued precipitation chances for much of the long term with mountain snow for the higher terrain and rain showers for the lower valleys. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Weather spotters are encouraged to report significant weather conditions according to Standard Operating Procedures.
The Riverton/Lander radar (KRIW), 34 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 14:51 UTC.
3 high wind, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Wind gusts as high as 61 mph occurred at the Lander airport.
The Kemmerer airport had a maximum wind gust of 60 mph.
Wind gusts up to 78 mph occurred along Highway 28 in the Red Canyon area of South Pass.
The Johnson County airport near Buffalo had a wind gust of 62 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wyoming in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, September 2024
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: 1217065, 1217063, 1217064, 1217062.