Heat will build over the Intermountain West and the Southwest the next couple of days. Lightning from dry thunderstorms can create new fire starts and combined with gusty winds may cause a fire to rapidly grow in Oregon and northern California. Elevated fire weather conditions are also expected in the Great Basin. Flash flooding will be possible in Arizona and west Texas, especially in burn scars. Read More >
Overview
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A vigorous spring storm impacted the Cowboy State Wednesday, April 26th through Friday, April 28th. Western Wyoming saw the heaviest snowfall late Wednesday night into Thursday morning when mountain locations were picking up 1 to 2" an hour. Western valleys were mainly rain Wednesday and Wednesday evening, before changing to snow during the predawn hours Thursday morning. This storm system then began to gradually impact areas east of the Divide Thursday with precipitation becoming widespread Thursday afternoon and evening. Precipitation in the lower elevations east of the Divide changed to mainly snow Thursday afternoon into Thursday night. The main exception was below 5000 feet in the Big Horn Basin where the precipitation was mainly rain through the entire event. Accumulating snow varied considerably by elevation with a few hundred feet making the difference between little or no snow to several inches or more of snow depth. The heaviest accumulating snow east of the Divide occurred across the eastern slopes of the Bighorn Mountains and adjacent foothills including the Buffalo area, as well as Lander Foothills and eastern slopes of the Wind River Mountains. A few roads were closed during this event. The highway through the Wind River Canyon was closed for about 24 hours Friday into Friday night due to large boulders falling onto the highway. |
 Map of Snowfall Totals across western and central Wyoming from 4/26 to 4/28 |
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| Large drifts (3 to 4 feet deep) near Buffalo. (Photo courtesy of Caitlyn S.) |
Rain and snow on already saturated soils in the steeply sloped Wind River Canyon caused several mud or rock slides. The highway through the Canyon was closed Friday and Friday night. (Photo courtesy of WYDOT) |
Snow
Location Snowfall Big Horn County... Powder River Pass... 9 inches. Bald Mountain Snotel... 9 inches. Bone Springs Divide Snotel... 6 inches. Shell Creek Snotel... 3 inches. Fremont County... Townsend Creek Snotel... 33 inches. Hobbs Park Snotel... 31 inches. South Pass Snotel... 29 inches. Deer Park Snotel... 29 inches. Atlantic City... 24.5 inches. St. Lawrence Alt Snotel... 20 inches. 9.5 SW Lander... 19 inches. Sinks Canyon... 17 inches. Sweetwater Station... 16.3 inches. Cold Springs Snotel... 16 inches. 9 SSE Lander... 15 inches. 6 SW Lander... 14.8 inches. 9 S Lander... 14.6 inches. 7 SE Lander... 12 inches. 7 WNW Lander... 10.9 inches. Riverton Airport... 9.9 inches. Brooks Lake... 9 inches. Jeffrey City... 8 inches. Lander Airport... 7.7 inches. 3 SW Lander... 7.5 inches. 4 W Riverton... 7 inches. Little Warm Snotel... 6 inches. Lander town... 2 to 6 inches. Sweetwater Station... 5 inches. Burroughs Creek Snotel... 5 inches. Riverton... 4.8 inches. Hudson... 4.5 inches. Dubois... 3 inches. 4 WSW Lander... 3 inches. 2 W Riverton... 2 inches. 9 NW Riverton... 2 inches. Burris... 0.4 inches. Hot Springs County... Owl Creek Snotel... 10 inches. 9 NE Thermopolis... 0.3 inches. Johnson County... Little Goose Snotel... 20 inches. Soldier Park Snotel... 19 inches. Cloud Peak Reservoir Snotel... 17 inches. Hansen Sawmill Snotel... 16 inches. 4 SSW Buffalo... 13 inches. 17 NNW Kaycee... 12.5 inches. 13 SSE Buffalo... 12 inches. Buffalo... 8.2 inches. Bear Trap Meadow Snotel... 8 inches. 16 NNW Kaycee... 8 inches. 17 E Kaycee... 7.7 inches. 7 NE Buffalo... 5 inches. 16 SE Buffalo... 3.5 inches. Lincoln County... Commissary Ridge... 21 inches. Blind Bull Summit... 15 inches. Cottonwood Creek Snotel... 10 inches. Willow Creek Snotel... 9 inches. Blind Bull Summit Snotel... 9 inches. Star Valley Ranch... 6.5 to 8.5 inches. Indian Creek Snotel... 8 inches. Box Y Ranch... 7 inches. Spring Creek Divide Snotel... 7 inches. 2 SE Thayne... 5.3 inches. Hams Fork Snotel... 4 inches. Kelley Ranger Station Snotel... 4 inches. 5 SSE Smoot... 3 inches. Afton... 1.9 inches. Fossil Butte... 1.7 inches. 3 N Etna... 1.5 inches. Salt River Summit Snotel... 1 inch. Natrona County... Casper Mountain Snotel... 14 inches. Grave Spring Snotel... 9 inches. 5 SSW Casper... 7 inches. Casper Mountain... 7 inches. Reno Hill Snotel... 6 inches. 1 SW Casper... 6 inches. 10 WSW Casper... 5 inches. 1 S Casper... 3.8 inches. 4 SW Casper... 3.2 inches. 3 WSW Casper... 3 inches. Midwest... 3 inches. Casper Airport... 2.5 inches. 2 S Casper... 2 inches. 12 NE Lysite... 1 inch. Casper... 0.5 to 1 inch. Park County... Marquette Snotel... 25 inches. Kirwin Snotel... 19 inches. Timber Creek Snotel... 16 inches. Blackwater Snotel... 12 inches. 3 NE Sunshine... 11.2 inches. Evening Star Snotel... 6 inches. Beartooth Lake Snotel... 5 inches. 26 SW Cody... 4 inches. 5 ESE Cody... 3.5 inches. Younts Peak Snotel... 3 inches. Wolverine Snotel... 3 inches. Pahaska... 2.2 inches. 1 ENE Wapiti... 2 inches. 4 SE Cody... 0.2 inches. Sublette County... Triple Peak Snotel... 8 inches. Loomis Park Snotel... 6 inches. Gunsite Pass Snotel... 6 inches. New Fork Lake Snotel... 4 inches. Pinedale... 2.3 inches. Elkhart Park G.S. Snotel... 2 inches. East Rim Divide Snotel... 2 inches. Daniel Fish Hatchery... 1.5 inches. 14 NW Pinedale... 1.5 inches. Larsen Creek Snotel... 1 inch. Kendall Ranger Station Snotel... 1 inch. Big Sandy Opening Snotel... 1 inch. Sweetwater County... Bairoil... 10.5 inches. Green River... 1 to 2 inches. 7 SE Rock Springs... 2.7 inches. Wamsutter... 1 to 2 inches. 5 N Farson... 0.5 inches. Teton County... Grand Targhee Snotel... 29 inches. Jackson Hole - Raymer... 23 inches. Jackson Hole - Rendezvous Bowl... 21 inches. Grassy Lake Snotel... 19 inches. Jackson Hole - Mid Mountain... 18 inches. Togwotee Mountain Lodge... 12 inches. 1 NNW Alta... 11 inches. Moose... 11 inches. Phillips Bench Snotel... 11 inches. Togwotee Pass Snotel... 11 inches. Jackson Hole - Base... 8 inches. Snake River Stn Snotel... 8 inches. Gros Ventre Summit Snotel... 7 inches. 2 NE Teton Village... 7 inches. Granite Creek Snotel... 5 inches. Base Camp Snotel... 4 inches. Darwin Ranch... 3.9 inches. Jackson Dam... 3.2 inches. Jackson... 1.4 inches. Washakie County... Powder River Pass Snotel... 10 inches. Middle Powder Snotel... 6 inches. 27 S Ten Sleep... 1 inch. Yellowstone National Park... Parker Peak Snotel... 10 inches. Sylvan Lake Snotel... 9 inches. Thumb Divide Snotel... 8 inches. Canyon Snotel... 6 inches. Lewis Lake Divide Snotel... 5 inches. Sylvan Road Snotel... 2 inches. Tower Falls Ranger Station... 1.2 inches.
Photos:
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| Picture of a lot of snow about 15 miles south of Buffalo. (Photo courtesy of Gina N.) |
Snow accumulating in Bairoil in extreme northeast Sweetwater County. (Photo courtesy of Sindy E.) |
A snowy deck overlooking Buffalo Bill Reservoir west of Cody (5700 Feet). Little snow accumulated in Cody only 7 miles away at 5000-5100 feet. (Photo courtesy of N. Harbert) |
Large boulder in the middle of the highway in the Wind River Canyon. (source: WYDOT) |
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