When I told my family and friends back in Iowa that we were moving to Wyoming in 1970, they all had the same reaction.
Why in the world would you want to move to a place with those terrible winters?
They worried about us freezing to death. They envisioned mountains of snow, temperatures 40 below zero, blizzards, and roads that would be impassable for months.
Well, after living in Wyoming for more than 50 years, I have a confession to make.
I have never been as cold in Wyoming as I was in Iowa!
You heard that right.
Those Horrible Gray Days
Iowa winters could be absolutely miserable, along with Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, Nebraska, and the Dakotas. Those long, gray days when the sun disappeared for weeks. Ice everywhere. Bone-chilling winds blowing out of the north across those flat Midwestern fields. And when the temperature dropped, there was nothing to stop those winds.
They literally invented wind chill in Iowa!
Wyoming, by comparison, has sunshine. Lots of it. Even when it is cold, the sun usually shines, and that makes a tremendous difference.
Now, before anybody accuses me of rewriting history, let me acknowledge that Wyoming has had some truly terrible winters.
The 1970s were no picnic. We arrived in 1970 and quickly learned that winter in Wyoming could be a serious business. There were some spectacular snowstorms, bitter cold spells, and times when you wondered why anybody would choose to live here.
I remember one particularly brutal stretch in the late 1970s. On Jan. 1, 1979, Jackson recorded a temperature of minus 63 degrees. That is not a typo. Minus 63!
And Jackson was not alone in having some miserable weather.
In Lander, we have had some enormous snow years. The winter of 1972-73 produced more than 219 inches of snow. Our normal annual snowfall is roughly half that amount.
There were winters when 20- and 30-inch snowstorms seemed to come along with regularity.
I remember one winter when it seemed like the snow simply never stopped. There is a photograph of me taken in November, wearing a Russian fur hat (that I bought in Alaska), standing in about 20 inches of snow with the temperature around 20 below zero.
I looked like somebody preparing for an expedition to the North Pole.
October? Snow?
There was another October when we got a big snowstorm on Oct. 1. That snow essentially stayed with us all winter. Once it arrived, it seemed determined to stick around until spring.
I also remember Januarys and Februarys when the thermometer seemed to spend more time below zero than above it. Those were real Wyoming winters, and nobody who lived through them would ever call them mild.
But something has changed. Or at least it sure seems that way.
Over the past several years, our winters have become increasingly unpredictable. Some have been remarkably mild. Others have had a few cold spells but very little lasting snow.
Last winter was a good example. We had relatively little snow, ice or extended cold weather around Lander.
I spent much of that winter in Dallas, Texas, and I swear it seemed cooler there than it was back home!
Now we are moving into another winter, and so far, October and November have been absolutely amazing. Beautiful days, comfortable temperatures, and very little of the kind of weather that used to make us dread the arrival of November.
It makes you wonder whatever happened to those old-fashioned Wyoming winters.
Of course, we all know that winter is not over until it is over. Wyoming weather has a way of humbling anybody who gets too confident. We could still get buried under several feet of snow. We could have a February that makes us wish we had moved to Arizona.
And we probably will have some of those days.
Wait, Weather Will Change
But one of the great things about Wyoming weather is its variety. A cold morning can turn into a beautiful sunny afternoon. A big snowstorm can be followed by several days of glorious sunshine. And even in the dead of winter, we can sometimes sit outside and enjoy a warm afternoon.
Today, on Wednesday Nov. 11, as I write this, I am wearing short sleeves. It was 70 degrees here on Tuesday. Crazy balmy.
Nancy and I went for a drive early and it was 37 degrees. When I came out of a store it was 46 degrees. When we got home it was 57 degrees.
By noon it was 61 degrees and still warming up. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and there was no wind. It was marvelous.
And yet, that sunshine is something I never take for granted.
I have often wondered whether the people back in Iowa who worried about our moving to Wyoming ever realized how much sunshine we would enjoy here.
They thought we were heading into the frozen tundra.
Instead, we discovered a place where winter comes with blue skies, spectacular mountain scenery, and plenty of opportunities to get outside.
I still love Wyoming winters. I love the snow in the mountains, the fresh smell of the cold air, the wildlife moving through the sagebrush and the beautiful sight of snow-covered aspen trees.
But I have to admit that I am not especially upset when we get one of these mild winters. At my age, I have earned the right to appreciate a little easier weather.
And if we get a few more winters like last year, I am certainly not going to complain. Just don't tell my Iowa relatives.
They are still convinced we are freezing to death out here.
Bill can be reached at Bill@CowboyStateDaily.com
