Multiple crashes on Interstate 80 Wednesday closed the interstate in both directions between Laramie and Sinclair, and one 20-vehicle pileup sent two people via air ambulance to regional hospitals with unknown injuries.
“We don’t know the actual cause, but you can imagine it could have been ice and people following too close, driving too fast for conditions,” said Wyoming Highway Patrol spokesman Aaron Brown. “It’s a big closure.”
A cold front caused a heavy band of snow to linger across parts of Carbon and Albany counties, said Timothy Trudel, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Cheyenne. The area received 3 to 6 inches of snow, he said.
While meteorologists knew the snow was coming, “the amounts were higher than expected,” he said.
A high-wind warning was also in effect, with meteorologists anticipating a “prolonged, significant high wind event,” with gusts as strong as 85-100 mph in the most wind-prone areas.
“The winds are going to howl,” said Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day.
The crash causing the 20-vehicle pileup happened on a bridge near mile marker 259 eastbound, Brown said. Dispatchers received the call around 9 a.m. Multiple other crashes were reported between mile markers 264 and 269 in the westbound lanes.
I-80 was still closed in both directions by publication time.
“People just weren’t ready for it,” Brown said. “We’ve had a warm winter.”
Rolling Closures
Wednesday’s crashes resulted in rolling closures along I-80.
Rolling closures are meant to assist the small towns along I-80 with heavy through-traffic — towns that have limited resources such as fuel, parking and hotel rooms.
In this case, I-80 remained closed between Sinclair and Laramie as emergency crews hoped to avoid having travelers stranded in areas without adequate services.
Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken in a statement advised drivers not to take alternate county road routes to avoid the rolling closures.
While causes of the crashes are still being investigated, Brown said, he was sure the sudden onslaught of winter after a relatively mild season played a role.
He noted that Wyoming seemed to have skipped winter this year.
“We basically just had the longest November in history,” he said. “Because of this, we got lulled into a false sense of security.”
Brown said ice, by itself, hardly ever causes major accidents. Ice becomes dangerous when combined with improper driving conditions.
“We definitely need people to slow down,” Brown said, “and give more room to vehicles ahead of them."
He added: “Wyoming weather does not mess around. When it hits, it hits hard.”
Kate Meadows can be reached at kate@cowboystatedaily.com.
