Wyoming And Wind

Laramie, Wyoming

December 2, 2022

The Great Divide, coupled with the latitude of Wyoming relative to weather coming off the Pacific, make it a pretty sure bet the wind is gonna blow. The rough triangle between Casper, Cheyenne and Laramie is ferociously windy. The rest of the state is only partly windy, with occasional gale-force winds. In the southeastern triangle, trains can be (and have been) blown off the tracks.

About 8-9 miles south of Wheatland is the "Bordeaux Cut" - the famous windsocks on I-25. The cut is a natural cut the wind has made thru the mountains and is like a big wind tunnel. It is documented as the windiest place in North America for perpetual wind.

That doesn't mean it doesn't get windier at other places but for sustained perpetual winds.

And just for kicks, the top 10 windiest cities according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are:

1...Blue Hill MA

2...Dodge City KS

3...Amarillo TX

4...Rochester MN

5...Cheyenne WY

6...Casper WY

7...Great Falls MT

8...Goodland KS

9...Boston MA

10...Lubbock TX

When Wyoming gets hit with high winds, it is usually from two types of patterns:

First, strong west to east jet stream winds that run perpendicular to the Continental Divide – this causes the wind to be squeezed through the mountain gaps (i.e. Elk Mountain, Muddy Gap, etc.) causing strong wind events. La Nina helps to form very fast-moving jet stream winds.

Second, intense winter/spring storms that move on top or just north of the state. This pattern (e.g., blizzards in ND/MT) has been responsible for the high wind. When strong low-pressure systems form in the region and pass to our north, the big difference in air pressure bring intense wind that can go on for days. This is common, especially in the spring. So, this spring, the high number of intense storms moving through the Pacific NW, MT, ND, NE WY brings very strong winds to the rest of WY, UT, CO, NE, NM, TX, OK.

Plus, there are no trees!