Southern Wyoming was shut down by blizzard conditions and a significant power outage in Carbon County on Monday that stranded motorists on Interstate 80 for hours — and some overnight.
More than 200 miles of Interstate 80 were closed for most of the day because winter conditions. As much as 10 inches of snow was reported in some places along the highway, and the Wyoming Department of Transportation was clearing 4-foot drifts by noon.
"I've had reports of 30 inches of snow in Snowy Range," said Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day.
Meanwhile, the intense winter weather damaged a power transmission line in Carbon County around 2 a.m. that left Rawlins, Sinclair, and Wamsutter without power for most of the day.
The outage also hampered WYDOT’s efforts to clear I-80.
“They couldn’t fuel up in Rawlins because the power was out,” Bar Nunn resident Jodi Burrer told Cowboy State Daily. “They had to get the plows to Sinclair to fill up.”
Covered In Chaos
Rawlins resident Marianne Nelson usually has a 10-minute commute to her job at the Wyoming State Penitentiary and hopped onto I-80 at 5:15 a.m. By 11 a.m. Monday, she had been stuck for nearly six hours.
“I’ve got three semitrucks parked in front of me,” she said. “I guess there's a tow truck somewhere, but he's stuck, too. I can’t see anything, and I only have a quarter of a tank of gas.”
Both the westbound and eastbound lanes of I-80 between Rock Springs and Cheyenne were closed to all through traffic by 10:46 a.m. Monday.
Wet, heavy snow was falling, quickly making the pavement slick with slush, while wind gusts up to 45 mph caused whiteout conditions that forced drivers to stop and pull over where they could.
“We have heard anecdotally of stuck vehicles between Laramie and Rock Springs, but don't have any hard numbers,” Jordan Young, WYDOT’s deputy public affairs officer, told Cowboy State Daily on Monday afternoon. “Plowing drifts from stuck and stopped vehicles can delay reopening the highway.”
Young also confirmed that a WYDOT snowplow had been struck, possibly by a semitruck, while it was clearing I-80 near the Wagonhound Rest Area between Arlington and Elk Mountain.
“We are still getting specific details on the crash from the Wyoming Highway Patrol," she said.
As of publication time Monday evening, the estimated reopening time for the westbound and eastbound lanes of I-80 was between Rawlins and Laramie was between 6 and 8 a.m. Tuesday.
Other crashes were reported by eyewitnesses, including one that involved a Wyoming Highway Patrol vehicle that had been put on a “flatbed.” Cowboy State Daily hasn’t confirmed details about any of these incidents.
Both lanes between Rawlins and Rock Springs were anticipated to reopen by midnight Tuesday.
Although Cheyenne had no significant snowfall on Monday, Interstate 80 westbound was put on a rolling closure so as not to overwhelm towns where snowfall had made highway passage impossible.
That meant hundreds of truckers were stranded, including Cam Geurgen, a driver from Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Geurgen said he could move to Laramie County if it wasn’t for the weather.
“Truckers know your sheriff here,” Geurgen said, incorrectly identifying Brian Kozak as "Bennie Lozak."
Geurgen said he’s heard about Kozak’s “Truck Around And Find Out" initiative on the internet and on talk radio.
“He gets rid of the illegal drivers and is the best in the country at it,” he said.
Power Out
Meanwhile, the winter weather caused a significant power outrage in Carbon County.
John Whitesides with Rocky Mountain Power said the outage was caused by a broken crossarm halfway between the Platte and Whiskey Peak substations. The damage happened in the early morning hours Monday, with the first report coming from Rawlins at 2:27 a.m.
“We have one transmission line that feeds those communities,” Whitesides said. “When we have a damaged line, there’s no power coming into homes and businesses.”
Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken set up an incident command post to keep people informed while Carbon County schools and businesses shut down for the day.
He informed residents that Carbon County Search and Rescue had been mobilized to provide emergency transport for anyone in need of oxygen services to Memorial Hospital of Carbon County in Rawlins, which remained open during the incident.
Amidst power outages and stuck drivers, Bakken had another unexpected crisis to contend with.
“Verizon is currently experiencing issues with outgoing calls from our communications center,” he said. “We are receiving all incoming calls without issues, but outgoing calls to Verizon numbers are not going through.”
Bakken noted that all other service providers, like AT&T and T-Mobile, were not experiencing these issues.
Whitesides said the effort to restore power was hampered by the weather and closed roads that Rocky Mountain Power’s crews needed to reach the damaged line.
They coordinated with the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office to clear those roads and reached the affected area as soon as possible.
“They started restoration work at 3 p.m. Monday,” Whitesides said. “The estimated restoration time was before 6 p.m. for Sinclair and before 7:30 p.m. for Rawlins.”
Overnight Issues
Trucker Zade Cyr had been stuck on the eastbound lane of I-80, somewhere between Wamsutter and Rawlins, for almost 11 hours when traffic finally started moving again.
“I figured I was going to be here until tomorrow morning,” he said.
Many people stuck on I-80 all day were expecting to spend the entire night stuck there, too.
By 5:30 p.m., both lanes between Rock Springs and Laramie were still closed, and the remaining expanse, east to Cheyenne and west to Evanston, was placed under a rolling closure until at least 10 p.m.
By Monday afternoon, the National Weather Service had issued a blizzard warning for the Arlington area, calling for another 2 to 6 inches of snow. The rest of southeast Wyoming was under a Winter Weather Warning for the entire day.
Then, the NWS issued a Freeze Warning for south-central Wyoming between 9 p.m. Monday and 10 a.m. Tuesday. Overnight temperatures as low as 20 degrees were expected across much of the area impacted by that day’s winter weather.
“Near-record low temperatures between 12 to 28 degrees can be expected in the warning area,” reported the NWS office in Cheyenne. “Freeze watches are in effect for Tuesday night for zones east of the Laramie Range and includes most of Converse County. These later freeze watches run through 10 a.m. Wednesday morning.”
That's likely to impact traffic going into Tuesday and the rest of the week.
Young said the best way for drivers to stay informed on current road conditions was to continue checking the Wyoming 511 website and app.
"We update that 24/7," she said "Some sections (of I-80) have different reopening times based on a variety of factors, including wind, drifting, visibility and more. We try to get folks moving whenever we can.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
