textproduct: Cheyenne

KEY MESSAGES

- Cooler, wetter weather will continue today and Friday as widespread precipitation chances continue this afternoon.

- A strong cold front moves through late tonight into the early morning hours Friday, resulting in high winds across portions of southeast Wyoming.

- Warmer, drier weather returns this weekend, with fire concerns increasing for the start of the week.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/

Issued at 136 AM MDT Thu Apr 2 2026

Isolated showers are ongoing across portions of the CWA, mostly areas west of the Laramie Range and across the western Nebraska Panhandle. Shower activity is expected to continue overnight and tomorrow as the next system starts to push into the Intermountain West. The upper-level shortwave that resulted in the precipitation on Wednesday will continue to propagate off to the northeast into the upper Midwest and portions of the Great Lakes region. A brief lull in precipitation is expected this afternoon as a weak, short- lived, upper-level ridge develops between the departing system to the east and the incoming system to the west. Most locations will see this pause in precipitation between now and about 3PM this afternoon. For locations west of the Laramie Range, there will be little to no pause in precipitation chances as the synoptic forcing from the incoming system is expected to arrive as early as 6AM this morning. Therefore, ongoing precipitation chances are expected for all locations west of the Laramie Range, while locations east will see a brief pause this morning into the early afternoon hours. With the departing system to the east, the 700mb low will also move off to the northeast, but not before strengthening and increasing height gradients across the CWA this morning into the afternoon hours. A 700mb jet approaching 50kts will be overhead by 9AM this morning, with GFS downward omega values suggesting a strong, mountain wave signature across much of the region. As a result, winds will start increasing this morning and into the afternoon hours, with strong southwesterly flow expected across Carbon County and slightly weaker, westerly flow for areas east of the Laramie Range. Craig to Casper gradients will increase as surface pressure gradients begin to increase in between the two system, resulting in increasing confidence for very strong winds near Arlington and Elk Mountain. The High Wind Watch for Arlington and Elk Mountain has been upgraded to a High Wind Warning from 6AM this morning through 6PM Friday. The High Wind Watch remains in place for the Rawlins area as confidence is lower for this zone to hit high wind criteria, though it cannot be completely ruled out. This Watch runs from 6AM this morning through 6PM this evening. The High Wind Watch for the remaining locations has been upgraded to a High Wind Warning, ending late Friday.

With this next incoming system, the higher terrain of southeast Wyoming is progged to do quite well, as far as snowfall is concerned. As the incoming system begins to push into western portions of the CWA later this morning, stout southwesterly flow will develop along the Sierra Madre Range, leading to continued upslope flow throughout much of the morning until winds shift westerly to northwesterly behind the cold front around 6PM this evening. The surface low responsible for this next round of precipitation is progged to develop between 3PM and 6PM this evening off the Rocky Mountains in northeastern Colorado. This low will slowly propagate off to the northeast, leaving much of the CWA in a favorable flow regime for wide spread showers and likely snow showers behind the cold front as 700mb tank back into the -12 to -9C range. Snowfall in the mountains should accumulate throughout much of the event, leading to around 15 to 20 inches of snow for the mountains, with the highest amounts near the peaks. Therefore, a Winter Storm Warning has been issued for the Sierra Madre and Snowy ranges from 11AM this morning through 6PM Friday. Snow totals outside of the mountains will be much lower, likely between a Trace and 2 inches, with the highest amounts occurring out west where precipitation chances do not pause for overly long. However, some decent precipitation totals are expected, especially for any locations that experience one of the heavier rain showers. All rain is expected to change over to snow between 6PM this evening through 6 AM Friday, with the Panhandle being the last area to see snow.

On Friday, the upper-level system will continue to slowly propagate eastwards as an upper-level ridge develops over the West Coast. The 700mb low bringing the precipitation to the region will very slowly propagate northeastwards, but will continue to strengthen as it does so. As a result, high winds are expected to continue Friday morning behind the cold front, rather than decreasing after the front as is usually seen across the region. High winds will continue through Friday evening, as the 700mb low finally leaves the region Saturday morning. With the slower propagation of the surface low and 700mb low, precipitation chances do not start to come to an end until overnight Friday into early Saturday morning. Temperatures on Friday will struggle to get back into the 40s for areas east of the Laramie Range. When combined with the high winds expected to continue across the region, it will feel a lot colder the the upper-30s to low-40s for most areas. Temperatures will begin to rebound on Saturday as the upper-level ridge developing over the West Coast moves towards the region.

LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/

Issued at 136 AM MDT Thu Apr 2 2026

No major changes with this update. Please see previous discussion...

The weekend into early next week will feature a return to drier weather as northwest flow transitions to weak ridging across the western CONUS. Temperatures will run near to slightly above normal throughout the period, however we will not see a return to record high temperatures, at least for the next week or so. Northwest flow behind our departing system on Saturday will result in a seasonably chilly, but sunny day across southeast Wyoming and western Nebraska. As ridging builds in from the southwest and mid-level temperatures warm, expect a moderating trend to temperatures for Sunday with high confidence in dry weather expected once again.

A bit more uncertainty enters the forecast from Monday through Wednesday as a plume of subtropical moisture moves in through the southwestern CONUS. This feature, underneath the building ridge, gives almost a summery-flavor to the weather pattern with increasing chances of afternoon convective showers and possibly thunder over the higher terrain. At the very least, an increase in mid-level moisture will make for cloudier afternoons from Monday through midweek. Despite the cloud cover, warming mid-level temperatures will compensate resulting in highs still running above average through the period. Late in the long-term period on Wednesday into Thursday, attention shifts to the chance of a more robust storm system to move through the Central Rockies. A large amount of spread exists in ensemble guidance for this period, with some members taking a stronger low-pressure system through the region with rain and mountain snow, and others limiting this event to a brief period of moisture and a cold front. Still, the next major opportunity for some form of accumulating precipitation of note looks to arrive on Wednesday evening through Thursday of next week.

AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z FRIDAY/

Issued at 509 AM MDT Thu Apr 2 2026

Patchy fog and low ceilings are ongoing across the western Nebraska Panhandle this morning. While patchy fog should come to an end in the next 1 to 4 hours, low ceilings will hang around throughout the day. A brief period of clearing for the Wyoming terminals is anticipated this morning through the afternoon, while the Nebraska terminals will see more cloud cover throughout the day. A cold front will pass through later tonight, leading to northerly wind shifts and isolated to scattered rain and snow showers. KRWL will see on and off rain and snow showers for much of the day.

CYS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

WY...High Wind Warning from 6 PM this evening to 6 PM MDT Friday for WYZ106. High Wind Watch through this afternoon for WYZ109. High Wind Warning until 6 PM MDT Friday for WYZ110. Winter Storm Warning from noon today to 6 PM MDT Friday for WYZ112-114. High Wind Warning until 9 PM MDT Friday for WYZ116-117. High Wind Warning from 9 PM this evening to 6 PM MDT Friday for WYZ118. NE...None.