High Wind — Northeast Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming

2025-12-17 · Northeast Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming

Event narrative

Estimated due to adjacent Pryor Mountains gusting to 79 mph at Wild Horse raws.

Wider weather episode

On December 17, 2025, the entire region experienced a long-duration, high-impact wind event resulting in widespread damage and impacts. While strong winds are a normal occurrence across this region, this event stands out due to its spatial extent and prolonged period of impact, with many locations experiencing high sustained winds and wind gusts for 6 or more hours. Damage reported as a result of this weather system includes numerous, downed trees and power lines. Widespread severe driving conditions were reported with multiple road closures as a result of blown-over semis and trailers and fallen debris. Numerous weather observation stations across the reservation recorded wind gusts over 50mph for several hours. Strong winds lingered into the 18th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1308146. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.