Why is Wyoming so windy? (Cheyenne, Casper: 2013, live in, moving)

[wemightmove]

I'm researching maybe moving to Casper and found this wind map of the U.S. Very interesting. I currently live in Nebraska and thought it was windy here. Casper looks insane!

Wind Powering America: State and United States Wind Resource Maps

Here's another link to a chart showing average wind speeds per month for some U.S. cities.

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/...d/avgwind.html

[T. Damon]

My mother grew up in Wyoming (Lost Springs, is that town still there as it had been listed as the smallest town in America?-I do remember driving through it few years ago and it was just about as small as town could possibly get) anyhoo, It always cracks me up when she talks about growing up there and the conversation inevitably turns to the omnipresent wind, her eyes kind of glaze over with a far away look and she'll mumble "the wind, the wind..." I guess it just about drove her crazy lol.

[campmom123]

I've lived in WY all of 2 1/2 weeks now and I've seen some wind but haven't been too overwhelmed by it like I thought I'd be. Perhaps my stint in Bozeman MT and also Salida CO prepared me for living here. Those places were pretty windy! Any big open valley type area seems to be so. I've also spent a decent amount of time in Estes Park, CO, same thing. But when I lived IN the mtns and not in a valley in the mtns, it wasn't very windy at all

T Damon, have you seen the old movie series "Centennial"? (based on the book by Mitchner), it takes place in NE colorado and there's a part about the dust bowl era and a woman goes crazy from the wind and acts the way you described, lol

[CptnRn]

Most of Wyoming is High Altitude Prarie, the wind always blows stronger at higher altitudes. The path of the jet stream usually runs across Wyoming which induces higher winds at lower elevations as well.

[canyonshadowwoman]

Hello,

I am a ranch raised,life long Wyoming native,living in the Torrington area. I have been lurking on this site for awhile,just listening in,enjoying the questions and answers.
But that "tumbleweed" migration answer to why the wind blows is the best one yet! So right on!

[sunsprit]

The Wind Power resource maps are targeted to average wind energy density readings for generating electric power ... and do reflect that there can be steady average wind velocities over a given time period.

But what they don't reveal is the number of times in a year (on average) when the winds are much stronger than the ideal 20 mph velocities and also have a substantial gust factor.

For example, I've flown into many airstrips around the state where the winds were reporting 30 mph, GUSTING to 50 mph. Two weeks ago, I had almost that strong a wind condition ... 30gusting40 ... in a SE Wyoming airstrip.

And even though the SE corner of the state is listed as being an OK area for wind power, we've had 100+ mph wind gusts through this area ... two years ago, so strong that they actually blew blades off of several of the wind generators by us. It's not the steady wind velocity that causes the havoc, it the "hammering" of the instantaneous wind gusts in otherwise strong winds that cause the damage with their associated instant change in wind direction component. I saw several barns and steel buildings that were blown down in that windstorm, as well as a number of roofs blown apart on houses and buildings. What sets this area of SE Wyoming apart from other places where "the wind blows" is that we can see this type of strong wind with severe gusts anytime through the year, and very frequently in some years.

I've had winter wind storms blow structures and fences apart, roofs blown off, tree limbs blown down, shelter belt trees downed, greenhouses blown apart (rated for 100 mph winds), and swathed hay on the ground blown to Nebraska in a matter of minutes in the summer months ....

There's many a winter day around here that would otherwise be reasonably comfortable in the sunshine but the wind velocity is so strong that the wind chill is severe and takes the fun out of the chores and outside activity.

LOL here re the post above about having been in Wyoming for just over two weeks and the winds don't seem that bad compared to a number of places around the region ... You haven't seen anything yet.

[K Clark]

Yeah it's windy in Wyoming, Chicago ain't got nothing on us, first time I ever had two black eyes was because of the Wyoming plains wind, but I have lived in much worse places.

[NDak15]

I've heard that it's because Colorado sucks and Montana blows or because Utah sucks and Nebraska blows.

Lest anyone from the states I just insulted is offended, to be serious, in a lot of Wyoming there isn't a whole lot to stop the wind. Much of the state is wide open prairie. It takes some getting used to but I wouldn't live in any other state.

[daschmit]

Points along the interface between the western border of the short grass plains and the Front Range of the Rockies tend to be extremely windy, regardless of their specific location. To this day, the grand old Prince of Wales Hotel, located in Waterton Lakes National Park, does not sit square as a result of gale-force winds which struck while the foundation was being laid. Similarly, I am reminded of a flight back from Denver, one in which the pilot announced that "we will be arriving 30 minutes ahead of schedule thanks to a 120-mile per hour tailwind coming off of the Rockies."

[ElkHunter]

Not sure I understand. The "Front Range" is in Colorado. We really don't have or call it a front range up here. I live on the Eastern side of the Big Horns and we don't get very much wind at all. Sheridan, Ranchester, Parkman, Dayton, Story, Banner, etc gets very little wind.