textproduct: Cheyenne

KEY MESSAGES

- Recent strong winds across southeast Wyoming will continue to diminish Friday. However, additional High Winds likely for the wind prones late Friday into Saturday morning.

- Arctic cold front will brush eastern Wyoming and the northern Nebraska Panhandle Friday night and Saturday. Much colder temperatures and some light snow possible as far west as the Interstate 25 corridor into Saturday morning.

- Warming trend expected Sunday through early next week with strong winds possibly returning to southeast Wyoming on Tuesday and Wednesday.

UPDATE

Issued at 529 AM MST Fri Dec 12 2025

Quick update to High Wind headlines. Allowed the High Wind Warnings to expire for the northern Snowy Range foothills and I-80 Summit this morning. Expect the lull in the winds to last long enough to justify a 6 to 12 hour break in between events.

For tonight and early Saturday, issued a High Wind Warning for the northern Snowy Range foothills, including Arlington and Elk Mountain, starting this evening at 500 PM. Further east, issued a High Wind Watch for the southern and central Laramie Range, including Bordeaux, for the same valid times. Higher confidence with the northern Snowy Range foothills tonight, so went straight to a warning. In fact, would not be surprised to see gusts around 60 mph in a few locations all afternoon, but the bulk of the winds should begin this evening.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH SATURDAY/

Issued at 315 AM MST Fri Dec 12 2025

Current observations across the region show strong gusty winds over the wind prone areas continuing early this morning, but they have diminished quite a bit compared to the 65 to 75 MPH gusts from earlier yesterday. IR Satellite loop shows the leading edge of the arctic cold front moving into the northern Nebraska panhandle and northeast Niobrara county with temperatures quickly lowering into the low to mid 20s. Chadron has recently changed over to snow over the last half an hour with additional light snow likely to continue through the day. Temperatures in this area will fall through the day and into tonight...with afternoon temperatures likely falling into the low to mid 20s along and northeast of a Douglas to Alliance line. In contrast, high temperatures will be in the upper 40s to mid 50s west and southwest of the arctic boundary. Not much forcing associated with the arctic front, although some frontogenesis will result in accumulating snow for a time today into tonight. Generally expect less than 2 inches of snow, but confidence is limited due to the nature of arctic fronts this time of the year.

Arctic front will make additional westward progress Friday night, likely moving near the I-25 corridor. Low temperatures along the I-25 corridor will be tricky, since areas just east of the front will likely be in the low 20s and teens, in contrast to the low to mid 30s west of the front. Ensemble spreads and 50th percentile are similar to last night in terms of the mean position of the front at 12z Saturday, so didn't change forecast temperatures too much for Friday night even though confidence is limited. After a brief lull in the winds this afternoon...winds will increase again Friday night, but mainly confined to the wind prone areas. This event will likely be brief since all models suggest one last arctic push Saturday morning, with strong winds diminishing quickly through the afternoon hours. Will let the current High Wind Warning expire before issuing new wind headlines either later this morning or during the afternoon forecast package. May even need to extend the Arlington/Elk Mountain zone through today if winds stay around 60 MPH. Still have a few hours to decide on how to handle the ongoing windy conditions, but will likely let the other warning(s) expire on time.

For Saturday, high temperatures will be even colder across east central Wyoming and most of western Nebraska...with temperatures in the teens and 20s north and east of the North Platte River Valley. Any remaining light snow should come to an end very early Saturday morning over the Pine Ridge area even though off/on flurries may continue through the day with no additional accumulation. Arctic cold front finally makes progress southward by Saturday afternoon with daytime temperatures quickly falling into the 20s and 30s along the I-25 corridor. This should effectively end the strong wind threat for a few days across southeast Wyoming.

LONG TERM /SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/

Issued at 145 PM MST Thu Dec 11 2025

Ensemble clusters show strong synoptic agreement through the weekend into Monday afternoon when scenarios diverge and become more dependent upon the evolution of an incoming Pacific Northwest trough and how much the western ridge dissipates as an upper low cuts across Mexican/US border early in the week. Overall a deamplifying ridge through the weekend with retreating high pressure will lead to temporarily cooler temps Friday and Saturday but as faster zonal flow develops atop the crest of the ridge by Sunday warming temps and a high plains downslope airmass will take hold pushing daily highs into the 50s and even low 60s east of I25 through Wednesday. By Wednesday evening that previously mentioned Pacific Northwest trough should be moving across the high plains states of Montana and the Dakotas with an attendant cold front progged to push south, bringing temps back closer to seasonal averages along the front range for the later portion of the week. By the end of the week most clusters maintain some degree of zonal flow aloft with the ridge axis centered overhead but some push the ridge axis slightly further east into the plains with SW flow aloft harboring better potential for high elevation snows Wednesday and beyond.

Coincident with the expected mid to late week front will be increasing height gradients across southeast Wyoming that could end our brief (and enjoyable) break from the high winds. Currently looking to be more of a threat for the typically wind prone areas on Wednesday/Thursday but we will continue to monitor other less prone areas for any needed headlines when appropriate.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SATURDAY/

Issued at 1036 AM MST Fri Dec 12 2025

Wind directions will be tricky to pinpoint across the Nebraska panhandle terminals today though likely remaining somewhere between NE and SE. More importantly will be MVFR (localized IFR) clear out across the area in the next few hours (clear by 00z) with wind shear possible after 00z for the Nebraska sites. For Wyoming terminal looking at continued westerly winds at 20-30kts gusts to 30-40kts through the period. VFR conditions do continue with periodic BKN ceilings around 5-10k ft.

CYS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

WY...High Wind Watch from 5 PM MST this afternoon through Saturday morning for WYZ106-116. High Wind Warning from 5 PM this afternoon to 8 AM MST Saturday for WYZ110. NE...None.