The Beartooth Highway wasn’t open Friday as scheduled after another snowstorm covered the mountain pass at nearly 11,000 feet of elevation with wet, heavy snow.
The Beartooth Highway always tries to be open on the Friday before Memorial Day — “tries” being the operative word.
The effort to clear the highway started in April, but plow crews from Yellowstone National Park were still working at West Summit, clearing around a foot of snow there Thursday.
The National Park Service said it “tentatively” hopes the entire 64 miles will be open to tourists and travelers by Saturday morning.
Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day thinks that’s more than likely.
The last week has been very eventful for winter weather, but it looks like that's done and shouldn’t return before Memorial Day weekend’s over.
“If you're camping, barbecuing, going to a parade, or driving the Beartooth Highway, the weather is not going to be much of a factor,” he said. “Some years it is, this year it's not.”
A Good Week
Wyoming got a lot of snow and winter weather this week. Over an inch of liquid water fell across southern Wyoming, and as much as 30 inches of snow fell in the mountains.
Southern Wyoming had warmed and dried up by Thursday, but there was more winter weather in the mountains of northwest Wyoming.
“That wave (of precipitation) that came through yesterday dropped a goodly amount of snow in the Beartooths,” Day said Friday. “The angle that the front came in was just perfect for the Beartooths to get it.”
Day didn’t have an official report of how much snow fell on the Beartooth Highway this week, but the National Weather Service anticipated as much as 15 inches of new snow between Wednesday and Thursday night.
There was certainly enough snow to delay the intended Friday morning opening, which isn’t unusual for the Beartooth Highway. The opening has been delayed by sudden late-season snowstorms several times over the years, most recently in 2024.
Some disappointed drivers might have been turned away, but they can take comfort in knowing how beneficial this week’s weather has been for Wyoming.
“The month of May produced twice as much snow, or more, than the month of March, at least in the southern mountains,” Day said. “That’s a big, big relief.”
All-American Opening
The Beartooth Highway is jointly managed by the NPS and the Montana Department of Transportation.
MDOT started plowing snow off the first stretch of U.S. Highway 212 from Red Lodge, Montana, to the Wyoming state line in mid-April.
The NPS handles the remaining stretch from the junction of Wyoming Highway 296, the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, to the Montana state line.
Walt Houghton, maintenance chief of MDOT’s Billings office, told Cowboy State Daily that his crew was off to a good start. They finished the first 20 miles to Vista Point within three days.
That said, it doesn’t matter how much progress either agency makes. Even if the Beartooth Highway is bone dry before Memorial Day weekend, it won’t open until that Friday.
“May 22 is a hard-set date,” Houghton said. “There are quite a few other projects that we need to do to make sure everything's good and spit-shined for this opening this year. We will not be opening any earlier than Memorial Day weekend.”
This year, as in many years past, the Beartooth Highway ensured that it wouldn’t open any earlier than May 22, but it won't keep itself closed for the entire weekend.
Enjoying Your Weekend
The NPS hopes the Beartooth Highway will be open by Saturday morning, and Day said the weather will cooperate.
“Today will be pretty chilly, but tomorrow temperatures are going to ramp up into the 60s and lower 70s,” he said. “By Sunday, we’ll be in the 70s and lower 80s, and Monday might get even warmer than that.”
According to the National Weather Service, there’s a slight chance of scattered rain and snow showers on the Beartooth Highway on Saturday morning, but daytime highs will be in the low 50s.
On Sunday, more scattered showers and thunderstorms with a daytime high of 58.
Then for Memorial Day, it will be mostly sunny with a high near 62.
The rest of Wyoming should be warm and mostly sunny for the three-day holiday weekend. The only thing to look out for is scattered thunderstorms that could interrupt any barbecues.
“There's going to be a couple of late-day thunderstorms on Sunday, and thunderstorm coverage on Monday goes up, but we're talking afternoon stuff,” Day said. “For folks planning activities for the three-day weekend, it's going to be pretty darn nice other than those late-day thunderstorms Sunday and Monday.”
Mudding It
If the Beartooth Highway is open for Memorial Day weekend, Day issued a precautionary warning for anyone hoping to reach its 10,947-foot summit.
It wasn’t for snow, cold, or ice, but something that might be equally unpleasant to deal with.
“I would plan on mud if you’re going up high,” he said. “With all these recent weather events, it’s going to be really muddy up there.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
