Rain Chances and Wind Calm for Wednesday

It was an electric evening in Cheyenne and many parts of far Eastern Wyoming on Tuesday as several powerful storms fired up during the dinnertime hours and lasted into the overnight hours. Heavy rain, hail, flash flooding, and strong winds were brought on by several storms that developed over the Capital City, and there were even some power outages due to the storms as well. Luckily there were no tornadoes with these storms, but several roadways in Cheyenne became temporarily inaccessible due to the heavy downpour that lasted for a few hours.

That will not be the case for our Hump Day this week as high pressure has built in over Northern Colorado, essentially negating all rain chances for the whole state. Only the far northeast corner of Wyoming could see a shower or two this evening, but even those chances remain low. For the middle and western parts of the state the strong breezes that remained in the areas during the afternoon hours yesterday have calmed, now only remaining in the southwestern corner of the state. The summer heat continues to roll on for Wyoming however as many locations in the state continue to see temperatures in the upper 80s up to the mid 90s. The fire threat, while not as high as yesterday for those who saw the stronger winds, still remains.

The western two thirds of the state did not see storm activity Tuesday night, and thus the dry conditions continue to persist without any relief. A Level 1 “Elevated” fire weather risk remains over the western two thirds of the state, and it includes Natrona, Carbon, Johnson, Washakie, Hot Springs, Fremont, Sublette, Lincoln, Sweetwater, Uinta, Teton, and Park Counties for this afternoon. Rain is desperately needed in the middle of the state where cities like Casper have not seen any in over a week and the summer heat has been unrelenting.

Unfortunately conditions for fire development are only looking more favorable for Thursday as wind speeds seen during the winter months are expected to be felt across the state ahead of a mild cold front. High Wind Watches are currently in affect for Sweetwater, Fremont, Natrona, Johnson, Sheridan, Campbell, Crook, and Weston Counties with small portions of Sublette, Lincoln, and Park Counties also included. These are currently set to expire during the nighttime hours of Thursday, June 10th, although many of them will be replaced with High Wind Warnings come Thursday morning. Wind speeds are expected to exceed 30 mph sustained in most of the aforementioned counties with gusts likely clocking in over 50 mph. These will be warm and dry winds from the southwest blowing through areas with highs in the upper 80s into the mid 90s that haven’t seen rain in days, and thus a Level 2 “Critical” wildfire risk is already in place for Thursday. Some of the High Wind Watches may end up being replaced with Red Flag Warnings along with/instead of High Wind Warnings on Thursday because of this. The powerful winds will shift to Southeast Wyoming during the late evening and overnight hours as the wind shifts direction from the southwest to the west-northwest and northwest.

The cold front will bring some severe storm potential to Eastern Wyoming, particularly the northeastern corner where parts of Crook and Weston Counties are already under a Level 3 “Enhanced” risk for severe weather Thursday evening. The cold front will, however, bring in cooler conditions on Friday to give the state a day-long break from the summer heat. It is expected to return by Saturday.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) -

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