Don Day: Life-Threatening Cold Temperatures Ahead; Wind Chills 40 – 50 Below

Temperatures in some parts of Wyoming will dip down to 30 below zero while wind chills could hit 50 below.

AW
Annaliese Wiederspahn

February 11, 20213 min read

Frozen pants

It’s really, really cold out there.

Cold enough for pants to stand upright by themselves? Yes, it’s that cold.

The frozen jeans you see pictured were placed in Ton Winter’s front yard in Wheatland.

Those pants won’t be thawing out any time soon with at least four days of sub-zero weather facing that community.

Places like Gillette, Wyoming are really getting it.  The high on Thursday will be 11 below zero. Sheridan and Sundance will top out at 9 below zero. While Casper will make it all the way up to 2 below.

To show you how crazy Wyoming weather is, the icebox of the nation — Big Piney, Wyoming — will hit a balmy high of 33 degrees on Thursday. Pinedale, normally another super chilly spot, will see a high of 28, while Bondurant will make it to an even freezing.

This is all because, if you’ve been listening to Wyoming weatherman Don Day, there’s been a battle going on between the Arctic Pacific fronts.

When the Pacific front moves in, it warms up. When the Arctic front pushes the Pacific front out, it cools down.

And there’s been a dividing line between the two fronts. Western Wyoming is warmer while central and eastern Wyoming are really cold.

That’s about to change. In Super Bowl terms, the Arctic front is Tom Brady and the Buccaneers and they are about to dominate the Pacific.

That means the entire state is going to see an Arctic blast — the likes of which we haven’t seen in over a year.

“We’re expecting a push of Arctic here to get deeper get, let’s say a mile thick as we get into the Friday through Sunday timeframe, and we’re gonna see most of the state go below zero,” Day told Cowboy State Daily.

“These are really dangerous conditions,” Day said. “It’s been a long week for livestock and it’s about to get a lot longer.”

Day said the weekend will be especially cold in Wyoming not only because of the temperatures but because of the winds.

“Wind chills at 30 – 40 degrees below zero — or even colder in northeastern Wyoming — will occur this weekend,” Day said.

“The temperatures may not be record-setting but they’re getting really, really close to being record temperatures,” he said.

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Annaliese Wiederspahn

State Political Reporter