Winter Storm — Wind River Mountains West, Wyoming

2017-02-22 to 2017-02-24 · Wind River Mountains West, Wyoming

Event narrative

Very heavy snow fell across the East Slopes of the Wind River Range with amounts over two feet commonplace. Some of the highest amounts reported for SNOTELs included 34 inches at Townsend Creek and 28 inches at Deer Park. A COOP observer reported 26 inches of new snow at Atlantic City.

Wider weather episode

A slow moving area of low pressure moved out of Great Basin and passed very slowly across the southern portion of Wyoming and brought heavy snow to much of the southern two thirds of the state. The heaviest snow in the mountains fell over the East Slopes of the Wind River Mountains where favorable upslope flow brought over 2 feet of new snow to many areas with a maximum of 34 inches at the Townsend Creek SNOTEL. In the lower elevations, the heaviest snow fell across Sweetwater County. In Rock Springs and Green River, over a foot of snow was common with as much as 23 inches in some locations. The Lander Foothills and Wind River Basin where also hard hit with 12 to 18 inches of snow common. In addition, strong mid level winds mixed to the surface in some areas and brought blizzard conditions to portions of central and southern Wyoming. Portions of Interstate 80 as well as Highway 28 over South Pass were closed at times during the height of the storm.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 679904. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.