A strong pressure gradient over the western portion of the forecast area lead to high winds around the Arlington area and South Laramie Range starting late on January 19th and continuing through the early afternoon on the 20th.
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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 strong pressure gradient over the western portion of the forecast area lead to high winds around the Arlington area and South Laramie Range starting late on January 19th and continuing through the early afternoon on the 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 Jan 19, 10:00 PM MST, 36 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Cheyenne WY 1000 PM MST Mon Jan 19 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - High Wind Warnings are out as high winds are expected to return to the wind prone areas across southeast Wyoming tonight through at least midday Tuesday. - Elevated to near critical fire weather conditions are expected over portions of the High Plains Tuesday. - A brief shot of cold temperatures is possible across the area Friday into Saturday. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/... Issued at 252 PM MST Mon Jan 19 2026 At 500mb, persistent northwest flow continues into the CWA as a stubborn ridge stays put over the West Coast while troughing digs south to our east, into the Great Lakes Region. Embedded in this flow is a weak shortwave, this coupled with a cold front at the surface, will increase chances of precipitation by Tuesday afternoon. Hi-res guidance depicts the southern movement of this precipitation, albeit isolated, and the location where the greatest threat is. So, the main threat of precipitation, light snow showers with minimal accumulations, is primarily west of the I-25 corridor. Our northern forecast zones will see chances first around 3pm Tuesday and by 8pm it should have exited the CWA to our south. Now lets transition to wind talk. Winds have picked up once again under modest mid/upper level support, primarily in our wind-prones across southeast Wyoming, some of which may spread east into the plains. If your wondering, these winds will be no where near as strong as we've been seeing, as gusts today will top out around 35- 45 mph. With a cold front bearing down, ahead of it the surface gradient tightens, this will bring stronger winds overnight and into Tuesday with gusts up to 65 mph, primarily in our wind-prones. As such, in-house guidance suggests a 60 to 70% chance of high winds for Arlington and Vedauwoo along I-80, and at Bordeaux along I-25. So, we have issued High Wind Warnings in effect from midnight tonight to 2pm Tuesday across southeast Wyoming wind-prone areas including Interstate 80 near Arlington and the Summit and Interstate 25 near Bordeaux. Thereafter, we will see winds diminish through Tuesday evening. We are also closely monitoring the elevated to near critical grassland fire weather concerns that return to portions of the CWA, along I-80 from Cheyenne to Sidney and points south, Tuesday afternoon. Here, min RH values dip to as low as 15%, west winds ramp up to 30 mph (gusting up to 45 mph), and with ample dry fuels, the ingredients are there for this threat. We will continue to monitor and update if there is a need for Fire Weather products. Now switching to temperatures, highs today will top out into the mid 30s to low 40s while lows tonight drop into the mid teens to low 20s. Tuesday, slightly warmer across the CWA east of I-25 with highs topping out in the mid 40s to low 50s, mid 30s west of I-25. Tuesday's lows much like tonight, bottom out in the med teens to the low 20s. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... Issued at 252 PM MST Mon Jan 19 2026 The long term has a stronger signal for a more active end to the month but that may not necessarily equate to significant snow events. The ridge over the West Coast is preventing a lot moisture from advecting into the Intermountain West often leading to moisture starved systems and little snow accumulations. The shortwave pushing through Wednesday into Thursday starts out with Dry westerly winds and switching to a more favorable northerly direction in the evening and into the overnight period. However, the model soundings do still look a little dry near the surface leading to another little to non- existent snow event. The better event is going to be Friday into Saturday. The upper level trough pushing through will be a lot stronger as that low pressure system over the Hudson Bay wobbles a little more south. However, the question becomes how much moisture will we have to be able to utilize as the trough moves through. The models still retain a little moisture ahead of the trough moving through just like in previous runs however, the intermountain west has a habit of drying out faster than models projected. Another caveat, is the ridge over the West coast looks to be rebuilding later in the week which may also lead to drier conditions and less available moisture that originally modeled. Low Pops were kept for this potential scenario however, if we do have a slower building ridge than we can reasonably expect higher snow totals and more widespread snow showers in the lower elevations. The probabilities for 1 inch of snow for the high plains is still about 10 to 20 percent. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 1000 PM MST Mon Jan 19 2026 Low-level wind shear concerns have increased over the past few hours, so added low-level wind shear to all Wyoming terminals. Gusty winds have started up again this evening and will continue through much of the day Tuesday. Low-level wind shear concerns come to an end by the mid-morning hours as the strongest winds move back into the area. VFR conditions expected through the 06Z TAF period, but lower ceilings begin working back into the region late in the period. && .CYS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WY...High Wind Warning until 2 PM MST Tuesday for WYZ106-110-116. NE...None. && SHORT TERM...RZ LONG TERM...MM AVIATION...AM
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Cheyenne WY 252 PM MST Mon Jan 19 2026 NEZ002-003-019>021-054-055-095-096-WYZ101>119-202200- Dawes County-Box Butte County-Scotts Bluff County-Banner County- Morrill County-Kimball County-Cheyenne County- Northern Sioux County-Southern Sioux County- 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- 252 PM MST Mon Jan 19 2026 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of panhandle Nebraska...east central Wyoming...south central Wyoming and southeast Wyoming. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT - High Wind Warnings are out as high winds are expected to return to the wind prone areas across southeast Wyoming tonight through at least midday Tuesday. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY - Elevated to near critical fire weather conditions are expected over portions of the High Plains Tuesday. - A brief shot of cold temperatures is possible across the area Friday into Saturday. .Spotter information statement... Spotter activation will not be needed.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Frequent gust of 55 to 60 MPH were recorded along Interstate 80 from WYDOT sensors. A maximum gust of 69 MPH from a WYDOT sensor at Strouss Hill was recorded at 6:36 AM MST on 1/20.
A maximum wind gust of 58 MPH was observed at a Union Pacific Railroad sensor (2 WNW Buford) at 10:35 AM MST on 1/20.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wyoming in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, January 2026
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: 1310703, 1310705.