High Wind — Owl Creek & Bridger Mountains, Wyoming

2015-02-07 · Owl Creek & Bridger Mountains, Wyoming

Event narrative

A wind gust of 76 mph was recorded at Grass Creek Divide RAWS.

Wider weather episode

A tight pressure gradient and very strong winds aloft brought an extended period of high winds to portions of northwest and central Wyoming. The strongest winds were in the favored areas of the eastern foothills of the Absaroka Range. The winds were strong enough to topple 13 high voltage transmission power poles west of Meeteetse Thursday night, February 5. The resulting power outage affected about 2,100 people. Muddy ground conditions prevented crews from getting equipment to where the towers fell, so some customers were without power until early Monday, February 9.

The strong winds continued on Friday, February 6. A mesonet anemometer five miles west-northwest of Clark had sustained winds of hurricane force for over an hour with a maximum wind gust of 114 mph. At least one home was damaged by the wind. Other strong wind gusts included 94 mph on Chief Joseph Pass, 82 mph at Fales Rock RAWS in southwest Natrona County, 78 mph at Red Canyon and Grass Creek Divide, and 74 mph in the North Fork Canyon along the east slopes of the Wind River Range.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 552535. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.