High-Winds Derail Freight Train In Wyoming

Strong winds swept across the Western U.S. last week, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of customers across the Pacific Northwest, and even toppling a double-stacked freight train in Wyoming.

Wyoming-based media outlet Cowboy State Daily reported that a BNSF Railway train carrying dozens of double-stacked freight cars derailed early Friday morning northwest of Cheyenne due to extreme winds exceeding 144 mph.

This entire train was blown over this morning. Northwest of Cheyenne, Wyoming #wywx pic.twitter.com/NHib8Tixub

— brendon (@brendonme) December 19, 2025

Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day said the peak wind gusts in the area of the derailment incident were as much as 78 mph.

“That’s a notoriously windy area,” Day said. “My grandfather used to work for the Union Pacific Railroad, and I was always spun yarns about what it was like getting through that route, whether it was blizzards or windstorms. It’s really nasty.”

Retired Union Pacific Railroad employee and former Wyoming legislator Stan Blake told the local outlet that wind speeds recorded between Cheyenne and Laramie could “definitely” derail a train.

“From what I saw, they were intermodal cars, which are overseas shipping containers they double stack,” Blake said. “It’s like a giant billboard going down the rails.”

Last week, widespread warnings for winter weather or high winds were in place for millions across the West and Midwest.

Hurricane-like winds…

A gust of 142 mph was reported in Coldwater Ridge, Washington, as a storm brought powerful winds to the Pacific Northwest, causing power outages across the region. pic.twitter.com/WHn5JtuWiV

— AccuWeather (@accuweather) December 17, 2025

#BREAKING Over half a million are waking up without power in the Pacific Northwest
The showers are pushing down some of the winds aloft, prompting Destructive Severe Thunderstorm Warnings at times pic.twitter.com/zCdXF8FK5Y

— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) December 17, 2025

Residents of the Pacific Northwest can expect a long-duration atmospheric river to continue.

Long-duration atmospheric river pattern expected to continue across much of the West. https://t.co/UxC7DZQPmE https://t.co/1N4GaHhqwK https://t.co/ZyQxYYjJIo pic.twitter.com/DrVWfRwTfC

— NWS Climate Prediction Center (@NWSCPC) December 19, 2025

The rest of the Lower 48 can expect above-average temperatures through Christmas.