CHEYENNE - Fierce winds kept Wheatland resident Vern Juschka close to home Sunday.

"You didn't want to get too far away," said Juschka, who spent the day watching football on TV and caring for an ailing relative. "They've been ripping and roaring."

Wind speeds higher than 100 mph resulted in treacherous highway travel in southern Wyoming and caused delays at the University of Wyoming Monday.

The National Weather Service in Cheyenne reported a gust of 101 mph Saturday at Bordeaux south of Wheatland. Winds reached 84 mph at Arlington, 80 at Bordeaux and 62 mph in Cheyenne on Sunday night, said Jim Hatten, National Weather Service spokesman.

Gusts toppled at least six trucks on Interstate 25 Sunday, said Sgt. Stephen Townsend of the Wyoming Highway Patrol. Five of the wrecks occurred in Platte County and one in Laramie County. Four drivers were taken to the hospital, Hatten said.

Highway officials closed Interstate 80 from Rawlins to Laramie Monday because of slick roads and extreme winds. The eastbound lane of I-80 from Laramie to Cheyenne also was closed.

UW, which resumed classes Monday, opened despite the road closures, but officials did postpone the student fee deadline until 4 p.m. today, UW spokesman Jay Fromkin said.

Wind-blown snow caused numerous road closures over the weekend and Monday in southern Wyoming. Weather was a significant factor in at least two highway fatalities in southwest Wyoming, and it resulted in Sweetwater County searchers rescuing 20 stranded travelers Saturday night south of Rock Springs near the Utah border.

Sweetwater County Sheriff Rich Haskell said law enforcement officials were notified about 7 p.m. Saturday that from eight to 10 cars were stranded in severe drifting snow on Highway 191. He said search and rescue volunteers were able to reach the snowbound motorists, who were stranded southwest of Mellor Mountain about 30 miles south of Rock Springs. The group included mostly out-of-town travelers and an oil field crew.

Two people were killed on icy I-80 on Saturday, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol. Seven-month-old Zuri Nielsen of Fort Collins, Colo., was in an unanchored child safety seat in a 1993 Toyota 4 Runner that spun out of control and collided with a tractor-trailer 40 miles east of Rock Springs at 10:45 a.m. And Christopher Swanson, 29, of Lincolnwood, Ill., died when he lost control of his 2003 Volkswagen GTI and it rolled 25 miles east of Evanston at 1 p.m.

Meanwhile, Union Pacific reported that 36 cars of a 79-car train derailed about 3:40 p.m. Sunday at Rock River. Winds in the area were clocked at up to 87 mph. There were no injuries, and UP reopened one line Monday afternoon and expected to have the entire line open Monday night, according to company spokesman James Barnes. The train was traveling from Illinois to California. Barnes said the cause of the derailment was under investigation.

The chief cause of the weekend winds was a vacuum created by high pressure over Utah and low pressure over Montana and the Dakotas. Powerful winds, meanwhile, were swooping down from the atmosphere, Hatten said.

Weather officials expect the harsh weather to subside somewhat before a winter storm smacks the state again Wednesday night and Thursday.

Southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino contributed to this report.

Reach capital bureau reporter Jared Miller at (307) 632-1244 or at jared.miller@casperstartribune.net.