Why is Wyoming so windy? (Cheyenne, Gillette: wedding, bus, safety)

[ElkHunter]

I have some cousins that live in Cody and they say they don't get much wind, but go a half mile further out of town, it gets windy. I will find out exactly where they live and send you a em so you can verify one way or the other. You know how it is with some people, they don't realize the wind because they are so used to it.

40 years ago, I was in Cody, but was only there a couple hours and I thought it was a nice little tow. I hate wind, so if it had been windy, I would have noticed. 2 hours in a location is not a good judge of weather.

I have been to Worland a few times, Tensleep a few, and Greybull. They were not windy while I was there, but again, just a few hours. When I was hauling railroaders, we had two drivers in Greybull that would call in sick every time the weather got nasty. I was the driver out of Sheridan that would drive in any kind of weather, so they would send me over the mountain to haul out of Greybull, in the middle of a snowstorm. Then I would cover all trips from Laurel Montana, down through Greybull and all the way to Casper. Though it would be snowing hard, snow packed roads, I don't remember any visibility problems due to wind. I might add that almost all of my trips over to haul railroaders, were at night.

[Lucky_Town]

I'm a motorcyclist who is very anti wind.

I plan on riding through your state in mid to late May. I'll be coming from the east.
I have plenty of time.
should I

A.. Pick another state to ride through

B. Take a specific route in WY (dirt roads that are slow)

C. wait out the wind if needed and ride wide open on a nice day on interstate

Thanks for reading

[WyoNewk]

I read somewhere in the past couple weeks that Wyoming has more motorcycle owners per capita than nearly other any state. The wind isn't always fierce in Wyoming, and if it's bad here, it'll probably be bad in the adjoining states as well -- maybe not quite AS bad, but bad. Sturgis, SD has one of the biggest motorcycle rallies anywhere, and it's only a few miles from the Wyoming border.

That said, if it's I-80 that you're taking across Wyoming, it can get some hellacious winds. The whole I80 corridor across the state sits at a pretty high elevation and there's not much to slow the wind. Check the weather forecast. If it sounds bad, take a day off. If I were you, I'd do that the whole route. My sister and her husband farm along I80 in western Iowa, and they see big semis blown over along their farm every year. I know Nebraska and South Dakota get strong winds too.

I70 over the Rockies west of Denver doesn't get as much wind, but you can't get there without driving through some high wind areas. I90 across northern Wyoming doesn't get as much wind as I80 either, but across South Dakota it can be a bear.

Keep an eye out for thunderstorms too. That's the season for them. And have a good ride.

[Lucky_Town]

Thanks for the scouting report!

I'll cut and pace your post and put it in my memo app for later.

Thanks again.

[jody_wy]

US 26 would not be bad other then around Casper East

[Rescue3]

Why is Wyoming so windy?

We're closer to God's breath.

[buckfynn]

Three people in Casper are standing outside a store. All three are leaning at a 30 degree angle into the wind so they are not blown over.

(Tom the Tourist) "It sure is windy here today in Wyoming!"

(Ed WY native) "Windy? Hadn't really noticed." "Hey Joe, Tom just said it was windy today."

(Joe Wyoming native) "Tom did ... did he?" Confused look on Joe's face and responds with, "Yep Ed I'm glad it is not windy here today."

Tom the Tourist walks away shaking his head.

[Lucky_Town]

I'm looking at coming out of Southern South Dakota.
I'll go through
Gillette
Sheridan
Lovell
Powell
Cody
Yellow stone nati

Too cold for mid to late May?

[buckfynn]

Anyone ever hear of a place called Jeffery City in WY.

I lived there as a kid in the early '60's. It was a boom and bust town built around uranium mining. As a kid in the winter, I would walk home from school backward to avoid the wind. When living there the joke was the only time the wind quits is when it is mosquito season.

Now Jeffery City is a ghost town.

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by Lucky_Town

I'm looking at coming out of Southern South Dakota.
I'll go through
Gillette
Sheridan
Lovell
Powell
Cody
Yellow stone nati

Too cold for mid to late May?

That is a fairly decent route to avoid wind. Should make a good trip, as far as wind goes.

Mid to late May, may be a problem as we almost always have a late spring snow. However, at that time, the ground is thawed and most of the time the snow melts within hours. As long as you allow yourself time so that you can stop over for a night, unplanned, you should be fine. Watch out for shaded areas in the Mountains as they may have early morning frost. Highway 14A, may, or may not be open for traffic. It closes during the winter and opening it up in the spring is iffy for a set date. Just depends on how much snowpack they have on top. The good news is that if it is still closed, you'll just drop out through Greybull and then head North. It won't take you very far out of the way and it is also a scenic drive. Will only cost you a couple hours, at most.