textproduct: Cheyenne

KEY MESSAGES

- High winds will continue through Wednesday in the wind prone areas, intermittently spilling into adjacent zones.

- Elevated grassland fire danger is expected Tuesday and Wednesday over the High Plains.

- The next storm system will bring a chance for snow showers and a return to below average temperatures Thursday into Friday.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/

Issued at 300 PM MST Tue Jan 6 2026

Mainly clear skies are present over most of the area, but we are sandwiched between two cloud shields both to the north and the south. In between these two storm systems, we have of course the ever present wind forced by the tight low-level height gradient. 700- mb height gradients are peaking now, but will not drop off quickly through the evening hours (and may even continue to slightly strengthen according to some ensemble members). 700-mb wind speeds will also remain steady or strengthen slightly through about midnight before weakening somewhat Wednesday morning. So far, winds are generally coming in on the high end of the forecast, likely due to the broad descending motion present. Our area is located both in the left entrance region of a jet streak to our southeast, and in the right exit region of a jet streak to our northwest. This is helping to produce broad synoptic descent and realize some fairly strong wind gusts at the surface. While gusty winds are present over much of the area this afternoon, expect to see winds retreating to the wind prone and adjacent zones after sundown. The warning for central Laramie County should be able to expire on time, while the I- 25 corridor from Chugwater to Glenrock continues through Wednesday morning, and the wind prones continue through Wednesday afternoon. Winds have been fairly consistent this afternoon too, but this will also become more intermittent overnight and through the day on Wednesday. Models continue to disagree on the presence of an inversion near the Laramie Range this evening, but if we manage to develop this stable layer in the next few hours, we should see some modest mountain wave breaking activity into Converse and Platte counties. This was what prompted the extension of the warning into Wednesday morning, although confidence in, and consistency of, these wind gusts will be reduced for the next phase of the wind event.

Wednesday will be another mild and windy day, but wind speeds are expected to be a little bit weaker than today across the board. Temperatures will be similar to today's values, if not a few degrees warmer. The next storm system will approach the area on Wednesday, but this is trending more and more disorganized. We will have two upper level lows to keep track of. The first will be the closed low currently off the coast of southern California ejecting off to the northeast tomorrow. At the same time, another upper level low will dive down from the northwest, just a little delayed from the southern low. Ensembles are coming into better agreement on a track that keeps both of these systems a bit further south than ideal for precipitation chances in our area. Winds will drop off quickly Wednesday evening with some snow shower chances due to the passing frontogenesis. However, orographic lift looks fairly limited due to a near-null wind field passing over the area in between the two upper level lows. So, while we still have fairly high probabilities (60 to 80%) for snow in the mountains, confidence is low in reaching advisory criteria snowfall at this time. Will hold off on any mountain winter headlines in order to wait for improved confidence. These two systems will have impacts through the end of the week, but more details on that can be found in the Long Term section below.

LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/

Issued at 300 PM MST Tue Jan 6 2026

Westerly flow will turn into a more Northerly flow Thursday morning as a shortwave trough pushes through the Intermountain West. This change in flow will help us put a pause in high wind warnings for the areas. A stream of vorticity accompany the trough and will help synoptically lift the surface moisture for some possible light snow showers Thursday afternoon and evening for the lower elevations. Cold air will follow the trough siphoning some arctic air from Canada resulting in colder temperatures. This arctic air looks to drop Temperatures into the teens Thursday and Friday night and single digit temperatures for our higher peaks. Friday, another system may give us some continued snow chances for the mountains but the models keep pushing that system further south with each run so we are probably going to stay dry Friday. But another weak cold front will be pushing through the Intermountain West Saturday for a slight chance of snow for our mountain ranges as we continue to be in Northerly flow. However, the winds look to spike behind the cold front so Southeast Wyoming may see some elevated to possible high winds through the afternoon Saturday. An upper level ridge takes hold off the Intermountain West Sunday through possibly Tuesday to keep us dry those days. Our colder temperatures will also start to rise back into the 30's and 40's as a result of this ridge.

AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z THURSDAY/

Issued at 1050 PM MST Tue Jan 6 2026

Relatively quiet weather is expected over the next 12 to 18 hours with BKN to OVC skies mostly across northern Wyoming and the northern Nebraska panhandle. Occasionally breezy conditions are expected tonight with increasing winds after 15z.

HAZARDS/WEATHER TRENDS: VFR conditions expected through the TAF period. Remaining fairly windy at KAIA, KRWL, KLAR and KCYS for most of tonight with brief 1 to 3 hour lulls in wind speeds at times. Another round of LLWS expected until 15z for the terminals that do decouple overnight. Winds on Wednesday will not be quite as strong as the last few days, but still be windy for most terminals ahead of the next Pacific storm system. Clouds will gradually lower and thicken after 00z Thursday.

CYS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

WY...High Wind Warning until 11 AM MST Wednesday for WYZ101. High Wind Warning until 5 PM MST Wednesday for WYZ106-110-116- 117. High Wind Warning until 5 PM MST this afternoon for WYZ107-118.

NE...None.