Winter Storm in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

A combination of heavy snow and winds gusting as high as 59 mph brought severe winter conditions to Yellowstone Park.

Wyoming is often windy, but this was an expectational wind event. A notably strong 180 knot jet stream crossed Wyoming and brought widespread high wind statewide. There were numerous reports of wind gusts over 100 mph in the mountains, including a 110 mph gust along the Chief Joseph Highway in the Absaroka Range, a 123 mph gust in Red Canyon near South Pass, and a 144 mph gust at Mount Coffin in the Wyoming Range. This is the second highest gust recorded in Wyoming history. In the lower elevations, some notable wind gusts at official reporting stations included 92 mph at the Lander airport, 78 mph at both the Casper and Rock Springs airports, and 71 mph at the Buffalo airport. In the mountains, wind combined with snow to bring whiteout conditions to mountain passes, resulting in several highway closures. The strong wind in Lander brought down power lines and resulted in a power outage to around 2500 customers for several hours.