It’s getting colder around the Cowboy State, with some serious snow expected in parts of Wyoming this week.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a Winter Storm Warning for the Northern Black Hills of Wyoming and South Dakota through 5 a.m. Wednesday. And it’ll be a doozy for the first significant winter storm of the season for the region.
Although the snow has been flying in the higher elevations of Wyoming, up to 9 inches of snow is expected across the Black Hills, with wind gusts as high as 50 mph. Shane Eagan, a meteorologist with the NWS Office in Rapid City, South Dakota, said the impact will be determined by elevation.
“It’s highly elevation-dependent,” he said. “Sundance will probably get 3-6 six inches by Wednesday, and there could be a foot or more as you go up.”
Meanwhile, there might be a few flurries across the rest of Wyoming, but most spots will be spared snow for now. Crook and Weston Counties will bear the brunt of the blizzard-like conditions.
“It’s all driven by the terrain,” Eagan said. “The snowfall potential increases as the cold air hits the upslope, while everywhere else won’t get much, if any.”
Catching The Edge
Northeast Wyoming is catching the edge of another cold surge that will bypass most of the state.
Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day said waves of winter weather could make travel difficult in Crook and Weston Counties this week.
“It’s going to be persistent snow,” he said. “There may be heavy accumulations over the next two and half days, but it’ll come down in sheets and curtains rather than a steady curtain.”
Beyond the Black Hills, Sheridan and Gillette might see a sprinkling of snow, but the system won’t extend into the lower elevation areas of northeast Wyoming. That could cause some travel impacts on the Interstate 90corridor, especially since the cold weather will persist into the weekend.
“In general, we’re not warming up this week,” Eagan said. “The trend is warmer into the weekend, but it is hard to say how quickly the snow will melt once it falls. It should be here for at least a few days, if not longer.”
The impacts of this week’s winter storm will vary depending on one’s proximity to the Black Hills. Winds will get stronger, and the snow will become deeper along the highest sections of I-90 between Wyoming and South Dakota.
“This is a fairly common pattern in the winter for that region of the state to get snow when northwest winds push into the Black Hills,” Day said. “The closer you get to the Black Hills, the more snow you’ll get.”
Cold And Blustery
While Crook and Easton Counties get covered, the rest of Wyoming will feel cold and blustery. But Day described it as “nothing to write home about.”
“It’ll be a lot colder across the state on Tuesday, with brisk winds and snow flurries on the plains,” he said. “Temperatures will moderate a little bit on Wednesday as the colder air moves off to the east later this week.”
Nevertheless, Day anticipates that next week will be full of “active weather.” Cold fronts from the Pacific Ocean will descend into Wyoming, which means fluctuating temperatures and mountain snow across most of the state.
“We have to take these patterns on a day-by-day basis,” he said. “You can't look too far ahead, but it's going to be a busier pattern than what we’ve seen recently. Last week, nothing was going on. It was warmer here than in Florida. These incoming frontal systems will keep things active.”
Season’s Greetings
Meteorological winter started Dec. 1, 20 days before the calendar marks the start of winter. Wyoming has missed the worst of this season’s winter weather, but there are changes ahead.
Day said most of the winter weather this season has skewed eastward, bringing subzero temperatures and heavy snow to the Great Lakes and Midwest. He called these patterns “cold shots.”
“I think the really cold air will stay to our east this December,” he said. “That’s caught some people in the eastern half of the country off-guard, as the first week of the month was much colder than they anticipated.”
Wyoming might be missing these cold shots, but this is just the beginning of the winter season. Day believes there’s a change on the horizon, especially as 2024 ends.
“The real cold looks like it will get here in January and February for this part of the country,” he said. “Through the winter, these patterns shift around and move westward.”
The week between Christmas Day and New Year’s could be the first statewide taste of the colder, snowier winter ahead. Day thinks that’s when winter will kick in with more ferocity across the Cowboy State.
“That’s when we’ll start to see winter,” he said. “There’s already been a lot of winter this year, but it’s been to our east. We’re just getting this pattern started.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
