Wyoming's outage planning starts with high wind and sparse geography, then layers in winter support for households that may need a second day of continuity.
Wyoming's NOAA record includes 7,353 High Wind events, and the public BPI layer produces no top-priority county cluster. That makes high wind, sparse geography, and winter support more important than a fire-only description.
Mixed High-Wind, Winter, and Sparse-Geography Risk
A winter-only description misses Wyoming's practical outage problem. High wind dominates the NOAA record by a wide margin, winter storm sits second, and thunderstorm wind adds a third weather path that matters more for household continuity than a fire-led interpretation of the state.
Wyoming also does not have a public top-priority BPI county layer. The stronger county signal comes from HHS emPOWER, which concentrates in Laramie, Natrona, Sweetwater, Albany, and Fremont. That supports a statewide essentials-and-duration case without inventing a county overlap that the public data does not show.
DR-4739 shows that Wyoming's statewide outage picture is not just about wildfire. Flooding, distance, and sparse restoration routes can turn one weather event into a longer continuity problem even when flood is not the only practical driver.
FEMA DR-4739 covers flooding in Wyoming in 2023, showing how water, distance, and sparse restoration routes can turn one weather event into a longer statewide continuity problem.
Source: FEMA DR-4739Evidence trail
These notes trace the editorial claims above back to FEMA, DOE, utility, or other cited records.
FEMA declaration count (13) from OpenFEMA API, deduplicated by disaster number, DR/EM/FM types, 2014-2023; Wyoming's mix in this window includes Fire (7), Flood (3), Biological (2), and Severe Storm (1).
NRI composite score (53.4) from FEMA NRI county layer, population-weighted to state level; top modeled hazards are Wildfire, Winter Weather, and Landslide.
NOAA outage-relevant event mix is led by High Wind (7,353), Winter Storm (3,463), Thunderstorm Wind (1,717), Heavy Snow (955), and Flash Flood (297), with Albany, Carbon, Laramie, Fremont, and Platte leading county counts.
Wyoming has no public top-priority BPI counties in the GeneratorChecker cross-signal layer. HHS emPOWER counts 16,368 electricity-dependent Medicare beneficiaries statewide, with Laramie (3,088), Natrona (2,417), Sweetwater (1,253), Albany (1,127), and Fremont (1,012) as the largest county totals.
Wyoming Flooding DR-4739 from FEMA disaster declaration records.
Structured FEMA NRI, HHS emPOWER, NOAA Storm Events, and EIA methodology is documented separately on the methodology page.
NRI's top modeled hazards are Wildfire, Winter Weather, and Landslide, while NOAA's outage-relevant record is led by High Wind, Winter Storm, Thunderstorm Wind, Heavy Snow, and Flash Flood events..
NOAA storm-event records filtered to outage-relevant event types for Wyoming. Counts reflect historical storm-event assignments, not confirmed utility outages.
Analysis window
2005-01 to 2024-12
Included storm-event records
14,378
Source as of
2026-03
Included exact NOAA event types for Wyoming: Thunderstorm Wind, Tornado, High Wind, Strong Wind, Flash Flood, Flood, Winter Storm, Ice Storm, Freezing Rain, Heavy Snow, Blizzard.
In this filtered NOAA record set for Wyoming, Dec has the highest monthly count (2,222 records) , and High Wind is the leading event type. This chart shows frequency in NOAA records, not how severe a specific outage may be.
188 events were not mapped to a county ranking.
137 events were not mapped to a county ranking.
62 events were not mapped to a county ranking.
28 events were not mapped to a county ranking.
1.5% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
3.0% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
7.2% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
13.1% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
8.3% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
13.2% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
Forecast-zone events in Wyoming are assigned to counties using the current NWS county crosswalk. Some forecast zones expand to multiple counties; unresolved legacy, coastal, and sub-county forecast zones fall into the excluded bucket.
Direct county match
16.5%
Mapped from forecast zone
80.6%
Not assigned to county ranking
2.9%
Unresolved forecast zones
12
County-level HHS emPOWER counts for electricity-dependent Medicare beneficiaries in Wyoming.
16,368 Medicare beneficiaries in Wyoming have claims associated with electricity-dependent medical equipment. (HHS emPOWER, 2026-03)
County-level HHS emPOWER records for this state. Medicare enrollment data only. 23 counties are included in this state snapshot.
Counties with higher concentrations may face elevated community-level demand for backup power during outages. This does not indicate individual medical necessity.
Limitations: Reflects Medicare beneficiaries with claims associated with electricity-dependent medical equipment. Does not capture non-Medicare or uninsured populations. HHS masks cells from 1 to 10 as 11.
Start with a 24-hour high-wind essentials bundle, then extend to 48 hours with heating-system support if the household needs to bridge a colder second day.
Primary Wyoming scenario: high wind or winter-weather outage interrupts refrigeration, communications, medical support, and basic work continuity.
Load
698W
Target
24h
Minimum
27,600 Wh
This is the practical Wyoming baseline for a sparse state where wind, not just cold, often drives the outage.
Size this scenario in calculatorExtended Wyoming scenario: colder multi-day outage where food preservation, communications, medical support, and a gas-heating blower all need to stay online.
Load
1396W
Target
48h
Minimum
110,100 Wh
This scenario adds heating-system support and does not model electric resistance heating.
Size this scenario in calculatorCritical Note: No single portable power station in our database covers the full 24-hour baseline at this load (27,600 Wh target vs. 6,144 Wh max in our current database). Use solar recharge, load rotation, or expandable systems for longer events.
Writing Wyoming as a generic winter state when High Wind is the dominant NOAA signal.
Writing Wyoming as a wildfire-first state when the practical household case is more about wind, distance, and winter duration.
Inventing a public BPI county cluster where none exists.
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Composite score: 53.4 / 100
Rating: Relatively Low
Top modeled hazards: Wildfire, Winter Weather, Landslide
Hurricane score: 0.0
Winter Weather score: 83.3
Wildfire score: 86.6
Total (2014-2023): 13
Most recent: 2023-09-11 Flood
| Type | Count |
|---|---|
| Fire | 7 |
| Flood | 3 |
| Biological | 2 |
| Severe Storm | 1 |
Required Wh = (Total Load W × Target Hours / Inverter Derate) × Safety Factor
Inverter derate: 0.70 (30% real-world loss)
Safety factor: 1.15
Rounding: Up to nearest 100 Wh
Wyoming has an NRI composite risk score of 53.4 (Relatively Low), with 13 federal declarations from 2014 to 2023. NRI's top modeled hazards are Wildfire, Winter Weather, and Landslide, while NOAA's outage-relevant record is led by High Wind, Winter Storm, Thunderstorm Wind, Heavy Snow, and Flash Flood events..
For the primary scenario on this page (24-hour high-wind essentials), the estimated minimum is 27,600 Wh for a 24-hour target. Refine this in the calculator with your actual devices.
NRI is a modeled risk index based on hazard exposure, vulnerability, and expected loss. FEMA declarations reflect federally declared incidents. They answer different questions — use both signals together for planning.
Buying for a short outage only and underestimating how long a wind-driven Wyoming outage can last outside the main population centers. See the common mistakes section above for more state-specific pitfalls.
