Winter Storm — Bighorn Mountains Southeast, Wyoming

2017-04-27 to 2017-04-28 · Bighorn Mountains Southeast, Wyoming

Event narrative

Heavy snow fell throughout the eastern slopes of the Bighorn range. Some of the highest amounts included 20 inches at the Little Goose SNOTEL site and 19 inches at the Soldier Park SNOTEL.

Wider weather episode

An area of cold low pressure moved in from the Pacific Northwest and then strengthened as it moved East of the Continental Divide. The system had ample moisture and brought heavy snow to many areas. The heaviest snow fell along the East Slopes of the Wind River Range where several areas had over 2 feet with the highest amount of 33 inches at the Townsend Creek SNOTEL. Over a foot of snow also fell across portions of the Bighorn Range, Salt and Wyoming Mountains, Absarokas and Tetons. Across the lower elevations, the highest amounts where around the Riverton and Lander areas where 5 to 10 inches of snow fell, depending on elevation. Between 6 to 12 inches of snow also fell across portions of Johnson County as well as the Jackson Valley. However, effects were much less across the lower elevations. With the high late April sun angle, most major roads in the lower elevations remained largely wet through much of the event. An exception was around Beaver Rim where US 287 was shut down during the height of the storm.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 685618. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.