Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Cheyenne, WY

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413
FXUS65 KCYS 162048
AFDCYS

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Cheyenne WY
248 PM MDT Mon Jun 16 2025

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Coverage of showers and thunderstorms will increase for Monday
  and Tuesday with continued potential for scattered strong to
  severe thunderstorms and locally heavy rainfall.

- Expect a cool down for Tuesday before a warming and drying
  trend takes over Wednesday through Saturday. Near record high
  temperatures are possible on Friday and Saturday.

&&

.SHORT TERM /THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/...
Issued at 246 PM MDT Mon Jun 16 2025

Active and stormy weather continues today with yet another round of
afternoon/evening showers and thunderstorms expected to begin in the
next few hours. The axis of a strong upper level ridge remains over
the area with southwest flow to our west continuing to advect a
train of shortwave troughs inland from the Pacific. While deeper
Pacific moisture is beginning to stream in aloft, dry air remains
fairly entrenched as a deep mixed layer over Carbon and Albany
counties, and an elevated dry layer over the High Plains. Inverted-v
soundings west of the Laramie range will lead to another potential
for gusty showers producing winds of 50 to 70 MPH with decent
moisture mass moving in aloft. Cloud bases at above 500-mb are well-
above the freezing level and suggest the continued potential for
very strong winds through the early evening hours. Further east, the
setup is very similar to the last several days with plentiful
moisture in a shallow near surface layer, indicated by dewpoints in
the upper 50s to low 60s for most of the Nebraska panhandle and
parts of eastern Wyoming along and north of the North Platte River
Valley. Still, RAP soundings indicate the dry air layer is still
present aloft mainly between 500 and 700-mb. This is contributing
strong CIN once again for most of the High Plains. The cap appears
to be a little bit stronger than it was 24 hours ago with the
strongest values generally in far eastern Wyoming. The cap is
slightly weaker in the stretch from about Sidney to Alliance. While
this suggests higher probabilities for a low-end scenario to
play out today, we have the added player of more potent forcing
compared to the last several days. A stronger shortwave trough
approaching from the west will increase overrunning lift, which
should help add lift and moisture to the dry layer and thus
gradually erode the cap. Forecast models indicate the dry layer
should be sufficiently weak by about 5 to 6PM to allow a few
updrafts to break through. All together, there is a little
higher uncertainty today regarding the severe weather potential,
but storms that manage to get going will have access to a
potent severe weather environment and thus be capable of
producing large hail, damaging winds, and perhaps an isolated
tornado. Lapse rates remain very steep along with plentiful (but
capped) instability, and the strongest vertical wind shear we
have seen over the last few days.

After about 9PM, the mid-level dry layer will be gone, but a surface
cool front will aggressively push westward as  surface high pressure
settles in to our north and northeast. This will probably close the
window for surface based convection, but we may still see elevated
convection continuing well into the evening thanks to the steady
isentropic lift overtop areas of frontogenesis. This looks most
favorable along and north of the US-20 corridor, but we could see
scattered showers and/or isolated thunderstorms almost anywhere.
Retained low end (20 to 30%) PoPs throughout the night and into
Tuesday morning to account for this.

Active and stormy weather will continue for Tuesday, but with a much
different overall setup compared to the last few days. Capping will
not be much of an issue tomorrow. Instead, we will have moist
soundings across nearly the entire atmospheric profile, pushing
precipitable water to near the climatological 90th percentile. With
cooler temperatures in place, expect weaker instability and more
modest lapse rates with marginal shear. However, decent forcing and
plentiful moisture should still allow for scattered to numerous
showers and thunderstorms to develop in the late morning to early
afternoon hours. Convective parameters are expected to be sufficient
to support some strong to severe thunderstorms. A few hi-res models
suggest the possibility for storms to linearize, which suggests a
strong wind threat. Large hail is also possible, but the more modest
lapse rates and saturated soundings point slightly more towards
larger amounts of small hail and/or rainfall.

&&

.LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/...
Issued at 246 PM MDT Mon Jun 16 2025

Wednesday...Northwest flow aloft prevails, and with the low and mid
levels drying out and warming temperatures aloft providing
convective inhibition, no showers or thunderstorms are expected.
Maximum temperatures in the upper 70s to lower 80s.

Thursday...Zonal flow develops and with warm temperatures aloft and
relatively dry low and mid levels, dry conditions will continue. 700
mb temperatures near 13 Celsius will yield high temperatures from
the mid 80s to mid 90s.

Friday-Sunday...The flow aloft backs to southwest. With dry low and
mid levels and warm temperatures aloft, dry weather will continue.
Highs from the upper 80s to near 100 degrees Friday and Saturday,
with a bit cooler temperatures for Sunday as 700 mb temperatures
lower to near 16 Celsius.

Monday...After a cold frontal passage, and 700 mb temperatures near
12 Celsius, high temperatures will be cooler, in the mid 60s to mid
70s. Looks like enough low and mid level moisture to produce
isolated late day showers and thunderstorms.

&&

.AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z TUESDAY/...
Issued at 1114 AM MDT Mon Jun 16 2025

Thunderstorms, low ceilings, and potential fog highlight the
primary aviation weather concerns for eastern Wyo and western
Neb this forecast period. VFR this afternoon will give way to
increasing cloudiness and precip this evening. Some storms will
be strong or severe with wind gusts 50+ kts and large hail,
particularly for Neb terminals. Overnight, the thunder threat
generally transitions to low clouds and fog, including IFR in
the panhandle.

&&

.CYS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WY...High Wind Watch until 8 PM MDT this evening for WYZ109-110-115.
NE...None.

&&

$$

SHORT TERM...MN
LONG TERM...RUBIN
AVIATION...DS