High Wind — Upper Wind River Basin, Wyoming

2016-02-13 · Upper Wind River Basin, Wyoming

Event narrative

The wind sensor at the Dubois airport reported wind gusts as high as 70 mph. An anemometer at Crowheart gusted to 59 mph.

Wider weather episode

A strong cold front swept south across Wyoming during the afternoon of Saturday, February 13. Ahead of this front, strong mid-level winds worked their way to the surface in the lee of the Absaroka Range west of Clark. This produced a pre-dawn 81 mph gust near Clark. The combination of the mid-level winds and a tightening surface pressure gradient ahead of the front brought high winds to portions of central and northern Wyoming. Peak gusts generally occurred with the abrupt wind shift to the northwest and favored areas prone to northwest wind. The airports at Buffalo and Dubois both registered 70 mph gusts and several other locations recorded peak gusts around 60 mph.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 611977. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.