textproduct: Cheyenne

KEY MESSAGES

- Multiple arctic cold fronts will bring much colder temperatures to the area through Sunday, with the coldest wind chills on track for Friday.

- A Cold Weather Advisory is in effect for portions of western Nebraska and far eastern Wyoming tonight through Saturday.

- Widespread light snowfall is expected across the area tonight through Friday evening. A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for the Pine Ridge area.

- Areas of dense freezing fog will impact Interstate 80 between Laramie and Cheyenne Friday morning.

- Another round of light snow is possible on Sunday.

- High winds are likely to return to the area on Monday.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/

Issued at 108 AM MST Fri Jan 23 2026

Winter is making its bitter entrance tonight through much of the weekend. An upper-level trough will remain overhead Friday, funneling in continental arctic air from west central Canada. Week 500mb cyclonic vorticity advection will keep the trough from moving out of the area quickly, instead allowing it to sit around for several days. Weak 700mb flow will prevent any significant winds today, but will also keep 700mb flow rather stagnant. 700mb temperatures are well into the negatives tonight and will continue to be in the -20 to -15C range throughout the day. Therefore, a bitter cold day is in store with highs east of the Laramie Range will be in the single digits, with highs west of the Laramie Range, away from the best cold air, will be in the 20s. While 700mb flow remains weak for Friday, increased surface pressure gradients will allow winds to increase to around 12 to 18 mph throughout the day. As a result, wind chill values will be in the negative teens to negative 20s throughout the day, with the coldest wind chills right around sunrise between -25 and -15F east of the Laramie Range. Therefore, Cold Weather Advisories will remain in effect for the western Nebraska Panhandle and Niobrara and Goshen counties in southeast Wyoming. Cheyenne proper will remain "warm" enough to not require Cold Weather products, however, morning wind chill values will be in the -15 to -10F range throughout the entire day.

Another factor today will be the snow showers expected to move across the area and the subsequent Winter Weather Advisories for the northern Nebraska Panhandle and Niobrara County in southeast Wyoming. Synoptic lift will be favored now through most of the day with the upper-level trough axis west of the CWA, leading to synoptic lift at the exit of the base of the trough. As the trough rotates further south, much of the region will remain east of the trough axis throughout the day, leading to continued synoptic lift for most areas. Looking at the surface, there is a surface high pressure system over southern Minnesota, leading to largely easterly flow across the CWA with the clockwise rotation of the surface low. Easterly flow is predominately upslope for most locations east of the Laramie Range, supporting the synoptic lift already in place across the region. Both the GFS and NAM suggest a strong area of frontogenesis across the Nebraska Panhandle and even into portions of southeast Wyoming. With moist, isentropic upglide across this same location, continued snow chances look quite favorable, despite the average (for this time of year) moisture values across the region per the NAEFS Mean Precipitable Water. This moist, isentropic upglide with average PW values will remain across much of the area through the afternoon and evening into the overnight hours tonight. However, with the very cold temperatures and average PW values, snow accumulations look to be rather low, between 0.5 and 2 inches for most locations. However, across the northern Nebraska Panhandle and Niobrara County , the Pine Ridge should lead to localized enhanced upslope flow, leading to higher snow accumulations, likely between 2 and 4 inches, for this area. As a result, Winter Weather Advisories will remain in effect for these areas through 07Z tonight. The best upward motion and moisture, isentropic upglide starts to come to an end starting around 00Z tonight, leading to snow showers to taper off after this time.

Another cold day is in store for Saturday as rather stagnant 700mb flow keeps 700mb temperatures in the -18 to -15C range. The upper- level trough will continue to rotate across the area, not moving very fast due to weak 500mb cyclonic vorticity advection. A surface low will develop off the Black Hills, dragging a secondary arctic front through the region Sunday morning through the afternoon hours as the upper-level troughs rotates through the region. 700mb temperatures drop back into the -20 to -18C range Sunday morning through the afternoon hours. Therefore, surface temperatures will struggle to recover into the upper-teens and lower-20s everywhere. Surface winds look to kick up again with this frontal passage, potentially leading to bitter cold wind chills returning Sunday morning into the afternoon hours. More on this in the long term discussion below.

LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/

Issued at 108 AM MST Fri Jan 23 2026

No major changes, see previous discussion below.

Long term sees a cold start to the forecast period alongside some light snow chances before temperatures warm back to near normal next week alongside the return of what else - high winds. Through the weekend and to start next week, morning lows are expected to drop into the negatives to single digits, while daytime highs on Saturday and Sunday will be stuck in the teens to 20's before warming back up to near normal temperatures Monday afternoon. Meanwhile in the wake of the stout arctic high that will move into the region, we may see some lingering light snowfall across the region on Saturday and again Sunday when another quick moving system grazes the region, but any accumulations will be minuscule at best. Then into next week the ridging pattern will return over the western US, though not quite as strong as it has been, allowing temperatures to remain closer to near normal through the end of the period alongside dry conditions. This will also signal the return of high winds, particularly on Monday when the low level jet strengthens and pressure gradients tighten. In house guidance is now up to a 60 to 85% chance of high winds for our usual wind prone locations, but the main driver of these conditions will likely be the heightened pressure gradients as the low level jet won't be at it's strongest, which tends to lead to less overall high wind instances across the CWA. Expect our usual wind prones including Arlington, Bordeaux, and the Laramie Summit to likely reach high wind criteria, but this should not spread elsewhere outside of breezy conditions. Otherwise with the arctic airmass pushed out of the region and no major systems in sight, a return to mostly benign conditions can be expected as we move into the middle of next week.

AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY/

Issued at 1013 PM MST Thu Jan 22 2026

Complex forecast tonight into the early morning hours behind an arctic front. Snow showers will develop across southeast Wyoming and western Nebraska. Some snow showers have already develop across central portions of the Nebraska Panhandle, leading to IFR conditions at KAIA. IFR to LIFR conditions are expected across KCYS, KBFF, KCDR, KSNY, and KAIA tonight into the early morning hours as snow moves into the terminals. Low ceilings and low visibility will be leading to the IFR to LIFR conditions. Conditions are not expected to improve for a significant amount of time through the entire 06Z TAF period, once poor conditions begin.

CYS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

WY...Cold Weather Advisory until noon MST Saturday for WYZ102-108. Winter Weather Advisory until midnight MST tonight for WYZ102. Freezing Fog Advisory until 1 PM MST this afternoon for WYZ116- 117. NE...Cold Weather Advisory until noon MST Saturday for NEZ002-003- 019>021-054-055-095-096. Winter Weather Advisory until midnight MST tonight for NEZ002- 003-095-096.