Winter storm clouds are gathering over Wyoming, and they’ll cover the entire state with snow.
Eventually.
The National Weather Service (NWS) is monitoring an incoming winter weather system carrying rain, snow, and colder temperatures. It’s not a polar vortex, and it won’t be strong enough to cause a significant shift in Wyoming’s unusually warm, dry winter so far.
What matters is the significance of this winter weather system. It’s a promising harbinger of better days to come from the waning days of the 2025-2026 winter season.
“It’s moving at the speed of a tortoise going downhill,” said Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day. “These storm systems are the sacrificial lambs, softening up the defenses so future systems can be more impactful.”
Where And When
The incoming winter weather has already affected Wyoming. The Chief Joseph Highway and Granite, Teton and Togwotee Passes were covered with a fresh covering of wet, heavy snow on Monday morning.
Sharp-eyed weather watchers might have noticed the predominant trend. This system, like many before it, will disproportionately favor the mountains of western Wyoming.
“The mountains are going to be favored for the next two weeks,” Day said. “The best, heaviest snow will fall west up to the Continental Divide, with the mountains getting into a pattern of frequent snowstorms.”
The snowpack in western Wyoming has been steadily declining since reaching well above average levels in December. Many basins are still near or above 100% of their median snowpack, but weeks of dry weather and a lack of snow have steadily degraded those percentages.
According to Day, the “awful” snowpack in western Wyoming needs “a refresh.” The next two weeks will offer ideal conditions to rebuild those snowpacks.
“This is a great example that what’s best for the mountain snowpack is not the best for the plains,” he said. “This type of pattern will bring snow with high water content to mountains, which is exactly what you want to get the snowpack going again. In the big picture, this is exactly what we want.”
Lower Below
Wet, heavy snow in the mountains is always a good thing, even if it doesn’t have the potency to penetrate into the lower elevations. That’s just, meteorologically, the law of the land in Wyoming.
“These aren't particularly strong systems,” said meteorologist Taylor Wittman with the NWS office in Riverton. “When moisture comes in from the west, the mountains eat it up. They get it first and deplete most of it before it reaches the rest of Wyoming.”
That’s not to say the rest of Wyoming won’t see anything from these incoming winter weather systems. Wittman believes most Wyomingites will feel the drop in temperature over the next week.
“It’ll be noticeable, mainly because it’s been so warm,” he said. “Temperatures will drop into the low to mid 40s as the cold front passes through, but it’s been in the 50s to near 60s every day for the last week.”
Daytime highs in the low 40s are at or slightly above normal for mid-February. That’s still too warm for snow to fall and stick to the ground, but it’s a notable change, nonetheless.
“Even with these temperature drops, we're still so warm that these temperature drops are still going to keep us above normal,” Wittman said. “It’s an indication of what might become a more active winter weather pattern, with continual moisture, towards the end of the month.”
Staying Power
Wyoming’s short-range forecast looks pretty miserable for mid-February, which both Day and Wittman see as an undeniable improvement. Next week will be cold and cloudy, with occasional bursts of rain in the lower elevations.
“The western valleys, and even some lower elevation areas, might see a little bit of rain or a rain/snow mix this week,” Wittman said. “The chances are there, even if the systems aren’t very strong.”
The mountains, meanwhile, will be getting a lot of high-quality snow over the same period.
The real change will come in the following weeks. Day anticipates the future winter weather systems will be more impactful once this one breaks the logjam that’s keeping Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain region perpetually warm and dry this winter.
“The second push, coming in next week, is going to be more impactful in the western United States, bringing more snow chances and colder temperatures,” he said. “The next two weeks will mainly benefit the mountains, but it’s the beginning of momentum that’ll carry into next week.”
With temperatures dropping and wet weather moving in, the prognosis for the end of this winter season is looking much better than at the beginning.
“This week’s pattern change is not extremely potent, but it’s better than what we’ve seen in the last weeks and months,” Wittman said. “Overall, Wyoming is looking at a slight chance for above-normal precipitation and near-normal temperatures by the end of February.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
