High Wind — Cody Foothills, Wyoming

2021-11-15 to 2021-11-16 · Cody Foothills, Wyoming

Event narrative

Gap flow coupled with a mountain wave developed around Clark and brought extremely strong wind gusts for several hours on the evening of Monday, November 15. A maximum wind gust of 120 mph was reported to the west of Clark at 2100MST. A wind gust of 75 mph was measured at the Clark firehouse around midnight November 16.

Wider weather episode

A combination of a cold front, a potent jet, and strong winds being mixed to the surface brought high winds to much of northern and central Wyoming. The highest wind speeds were near the foothills of the Absaroka Range, where wind gusts as high as 120 mph occurred to the west of Clark. These intense gusts downed a power line, which was responsible for igniting a wildfire in the Line Creek drainage north of Clark. The wildfire spread quickly and destroyed several structures and caused one death. Wind gusts to around 90 mph were reported in northern Johnson County downing power lines that sparked several small grass fires. Wind gusts over 58 mph were also reported in Fremont and Hot Springs counties.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 991833. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.