Winter Storm — Upper Green River Basin, Wyoming

2009-10-04 to 2009-10-05 · Upper Green River Basin, Wyoming

Wider weather episode

Low pressure in the Great Basin brought copious moisture and temperatures just cold enough to produce heavy snow to parts of central and northern Wyoming. An easterly low-level wind flow enabled the heaviest snow to fall in upslope favored mountains and valleys from Sublette County, to Fremont County, and north into Park County. Moisture wrapping around the system on Sunday night and Monday allowed for heavy snow to also accumulate in northern Johnson County.

Snowfall totals ranged from 7 to 14 inches across many lower elevation sites in Fremont County. The highest totals of 12 to 14 inches were found in Lander and Jeffrey City. The nearby east slopes of the Wind River Mountains received one to nearly two feet of snow. Amounts just topping one foot fell in the Absaroka Range. Final snow tallies around Big Piney-Marbleton in western Sublette County and near Buffalo in Johnson County topped out between six and eight inches. Some localized amounts of four to eight inches were reported between Meeteetse and Cody.

Recent warm temperatures enabled travel to remain relatively unimpeded as snow melted quickly off area highways and streets. The worst problems were caused by falling tree limbs, mainly in the Wind River Basin and around Buffalo. Trees in these areas still had green leaves on them when the storm struck. The weight of the heavy snow caused limbs nearly six inches in diameter to snap. In Buffalo, most of the town was left without power as thousands of limbs were brought to the ground.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 194846. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.