There’s still a week of summer left in Wyoming, going by the calendar. But September snow is already falling in Yellowstone National Park and the highest points of the Cowboy State.
Pinedale photographer Dave Bell was traveling throughout northwest Wyoming on Thursday when he decided to take the Beartooth Highway to Red Lodge. As soon as he reached the 10,947-foot summit, he found himself navigating a blizzard.
“When I got to the top, all hell broke loose,” he said. “It was an absolute whiteout for about 45 minutes. You couldn’t see a thing. (It was) a heavy, heavy snow squall.”
Bell said it was heavy enough that a snowplow was already clearing the road before it was over.
But once the blizzard had blown through, it was “startlingly beautiful” at the summit.
“All of the Beartooths and Absarokas were completely white,” he said. “It was a wonderful day.”
Similar snowstorms were encountered in Yellowstone overnight Thursday, another sign of the seasonal change that's right around the corner. Summer's almost over, and snow will be sticking around soon.
On Schedule
Bell might have witnessed the first significant snowfall on the Beartooth Highway this season. That’d be right on schedule for the higher elevations of northwest Wyoming, which typically turns white in mid-September.
“It’s pretty common,” said Noah Myers, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Office in Riverton. “As we get into fall, these weather systems become a little colder, and the colder air intrudes a little further south, especially up in Yellowstone and along with the Beartooth Highway. It's not uncommon to get snow up there this time of year.”
Snowfall might be expected at this time of year, but Myers said it’s too early for accumulation. It’s still too warm for snow to stick across most of Wyoming, and even the highest mountain snow tends to melt quickly in September.
“Temperatures are still in the 40s on the Beartooth Highway, and it doesn't look particularly cold for the next week,” he said. “Even if we get little snow up there, it may end up mostly melting again. That’s also pretty typical for this time of year.”
That’s the seasonal pattern Bell observed on the Beartooth Highway. While the snow fell heavy and hard for nearly an hour, most of it had melted by the time he was heading out.
“Beartooth Lake had a dusting of snow when I went through it in the morning, but when I turned around and came back down, it was all gone,” he said. “I saw four or five guys on motorcycles near the first summit who had to wait for the snow to melt before they could leave. I don't have any idea what they were thinking.”
Wyoming photographer Dave Bell got caught in a blizzard on the Beartooth Highway on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. It left a distinct wintery scene all around the Wyoming high country. (Courtesy Dave Bell) 
Wyoming photographer Dave Bell got caught in a blizzard on the Beartooth Highway on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. It left a distinct wintery scene all around the Wyoming high country. (Courtesy Dave Bell) 
Wyoming photographer Dave Bell got caught in a blizzard on the Beartooth Highway on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. It left a distinct wintery scene all around the Wyoming high country. (Courtesy Dave Bell) 
Wyoming photographer Dave Bell got caught in a blizzard on the Beartooth Highway on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. It left a distinct wintery scene all around the Wyoming high country. (Courtesy Dave Bell) 
Wyoming photographer Dave Bell got caught in a blizzard on the Beartooth Highway on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. It left a distinct wintery scene all around the Wyoming high country. (Courtesy Dave Bell)
Proceed With Caution
Snow in Yellowstone and the Beartooth Highway isn’t a strong sign of seasonal change. Wyoming will probably avoid the first spell of winter for another month, at least.
However, Thursday’s snowfall should serve as a warning for anyone planning to drive through Wyoming’s high-elevation passes. The season's first snow fell over Togwotee Pass before the end of August.
“Our official answer is that people should be (meteorological) wary of the mountain passes all year round,” Myer said. “It’s especially true in September. If you spend a lot of time in Yellowstone in September, there's going to be snow at some point. And that’ll be true from September until next summer, effectively.”
Myers noted that several communities in western Wyoming have experienced their first frost. Jackson Hole and several Lincoln and Sublette Counties communities have already reported their first overnight freezes.
First Fall Forecasts
Next week’s forecast is calling for widespread precipitation across Wyoming. Myers’ analysis concludes that while it won’t be noticeably cooler next week, most of the state has a higher chance of precipitation over the duration.
“We can't say exactly how much rain we're going to get,” he said. “We can say the systems dropping down on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and possibly another one over the weekend favor somewhat widespread precipitation."
Sept. 22 is the official autumnal equinox, the first day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere. Based on what’s being observed at NWS Riverton, Myers thinks it’ll feel like fall on the first day of fall in Wyoming.
“Right now, it looks like it’ll be a little cooler toward the end of the week,” he said. “This can change, and it will, but these systems might be the start of the more persistent snow in the higher elevations, meaning it’ll stick around.”
After his experience on the Beartooth Highway, Bell had a different forecast for Wyomingites. Hunters take heed.
“I tell you one thing — it'll get the animals moving, that's for sure,” he said. “There was a lot of elk activity around Beartooth Lake that morning. A lot of it. The fall rut is on.”
Contact Andrew Rossi at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
