High Wind — East Sweetwater County, Wyoming

2025-12-17 · East Sweetwater County, Wyoming

Event narrative

The strongest wind gust was 80 mph at the WYDOT sensor near Baxter Road along Interstate 80. The Sweetwater County airport east of Rock Springs had a maximum wind gust of 77 mph, as did the Snow Springs Creek RAWS. Multiple other 70 mph gusts in the region.

Wider weather episode

Wyoming is often windy, but this was an expectational wind event. A notably strong 180 knot jet stream crossed Wyoming and brought widespread high wind statewide. There were numerous reports of wind gusts over 100 mph in the mountains, including a 110 mph gust along the Chief Joseph Highway in the Absaroka Range, a 123 mph gust in Red Canyon near South Pass, and a 144 mph gust at Mount Coffin in the Wyoming Range. This is the second highest gust recorded in Wyoming history. In the lower elevations, some notable wind gusts at official reporting stations included 92 mph at the Lander airport, 78 mph at both the Casper and Rock Springs airports, and 71 mph at the Buffalo airport. In the mountains, wind combined with snow to bring whiteout conditions to mountain passes, resulting in several highway closures. The strong wind in Lander brought down power lines and resulted in a power outage to around 2500 customers for several hours.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1307025. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.