Another Pattern Shift Brings Pleasant Weather

Severe weather threats dominated the end of last week and the weekend, with some tornado scares in the Panhandle of Nebraska Saturday and especially Sunday afternoon. Parts of Wyoming saw the sun a good bit of Sunday, but those same areas also saw powerful winds move in as the stormy weather pushed east. As a new week begins, the stormy weather has pushed even further east, allowing the sunshine to return across Wyoming. The windy pattern left in its wake is sticking around through the afternoon, with some off and on wind expected through the final week of May.

Temperatures for this week are expected to hang in the upper 60s and lower 70s, with the 70s beginning to take over on Tuesday and even more so Wednesday. Cloud cover is expected to increase during the afternoon hours thanks to surface heating, though the chances for afternoon storms is much lower, and the possibility for those to be severe even slimmer. Wind is kicking the week off on a strong note, especially in cities like Casper and Douglas where sustained speeds are expected to hang over 30 mph today with gusts clocking over 50mph at times during the afternoon hours.

The wind is expected to calm overnight before breezes shift to the southeastern corner of the state on Tuesday. Luckily, these are not expected to be 30+mph for the region, rather hanging below 25mph with gusts over 30. Again, Tuesday will see more than its fair share of highs over 70 degrees with plenty of sun, and storm chances are expected to remain nil with only a few isolated showers being possible during the late afternoon hours. Cloud cover does look to thicken Tuesday evening however, with Tuesday night having broken clouds ahead of a relatively cloudy Wednesday. Storm chances will escalate very slightly Wednesday with the cloudy conditions, but winds from the south will keep things warm; even warmer than Tuesday.

Speaking of wind, the powerful winds look to return to Casper Wednesday afternoon, albeit not as bad as today or yesterday. The same goes for Douglas and Riverton, where sustained speeds will hang in the upper 20mph range and the gusts over 40mph. Cheyenne will likely see breezes from the south over 20mph, though they shouldn’t see the speeds that Casper or Douglas see from the southwest. When it comes to Wednesday’s storm chances, as of now severe weather is not anticipated, though it will be something to watch for with rain chances up a bit compared to the rest of the week.

The pleasant pattern should hang around through Friday before more storm chances ramp up Memorial Day weekend and a return to the previous pattern takes place heading into June.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) -