Features Reporter

Andrew Rossi

Andrew Rossi is a features reporter for Cowboy State Daily based in northwest Wyoming. He covers everything from horrible weather and giant pumpkins to dinosaurs, astronomy, and the eccentricities of Yellowstone National Park.

Previously, Rossi was the News Director for Big Horn Basin Media in Cody. He earned several awards from the Wyoming Association of Broadcasters, including multiple awards for Best News Reporter and Best News Talk Show.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Rossi previously worked at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis. He has collaborated with Disney/Pixar, the BBC, The Washington Post, the Wyoming Office of Tourism, and several other national and international media outlets. He is also a cofounder of The Cody Theatre Company in Cody.

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Latest from Andrew Rossi

Snow falling on Togwotee Pass on Monday morning, Sept. 15, 2025.

It’s Already Snowing In Wyoming’s High Country; Up To 6 Inches For Beartooth Pass

It’s already snowing in Wyoming’s high country. It was falling on Togwotee Pass on Monday and the Beartooth Highway could get as much as 6 inches this week.

Andrew RossiSeptember 15, 2025

Young Male Moose Tries To Mate With A Wooden Moose In Montana

A male moose became infatuated with a life-sized wooden moose standing outside the Roosevelt Center in Red Lodge, Montana, on Monday. He liked the statue so much he tried to mate with it.

Andrew RossiSeptember 09, 2025

Video of a hopping bison getting crowded by tourists at Yellowstone National Park has been viewed nearly 10 million times since Friday. What many people don’t realize is the bison wasn’t being playful, it was read to mangle them, a biologist says.

Dimwitted Yellowstone Tourists Believe Angry Bison Was "Performing" For Them

Although tourists in Yellowstone laughed at an angry bison and thought it was "performing" for them, bison biologists say the "hopping" bison was building up for an attack, a turn that could have been tragic for the tourists holding their smartphones.

Andrew RossiSeptember 08, 2025

The root section of Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park. There hasn't been a volcanic eruption in Yellowstone National Park for more than 70,000 years. Whenever the next one comes, it’s likely to be a massive lava flow instead of a humanity-ending explosion.

Yellowstone’s Next Eruption: Flow Of Superheated Ooze, Not Humanity-Ending Explosion

Good news! Scientists say the next time the supervolcano in Yellowstone erupts, it won't be a humanity-ended explosion. Instead, it's likely to be a massive lava flow of superheated ooze. Whenever it happens, it will be the first volcanic eruption in more than 70,000 years.

Andrew RossiSeptember 07, 2025

Thermopolis hot spring Denise Lett via Alamy 9 7 25

Thermopolis Claims 'The World's Largest Mineral Hot Spring’ — But Is It?

The Big Spring, the main source of Thermopolis's hot mineral water, has been called "the world's largest mineral hot spring" since 1900. No other place has challenged that, but scientists and Guinness World Records haven't confirmed it.

Andrew RossiSeptember 07, 2025

Part of the team in the cave, from left, Katie Slenker, Adam Fitch, Mikey Rowe, Andy Grass, and Jean Krejca.

Massive, Near-Complete Mammoth Skeleton Discovered In Natural Trap Cave

The latest discovery in Natural Trap Cave in the Bighorn Mountains, considered one of the world's premier Ice Age fossil sites, is the nearly complete skeleton of a massive mammoth. Getting out of the 85-foot-deep hole will be cold, wet work.

Andrew RossiSeptember 06, 2025

An aerial view of Aspen Alley in Medicine Bow National Forest. The surrounding forest has been cleared of dead and dying aspen and lodgepole pine trees as part of an effort to revitalize the aspen grove, reduce fire danger, and improve wildlife habitat. New aspen saplings are already growing in the newly cleared area.

One Man's Mission To Resurrect Wyoming's Aspen Alley

Dennis Faerber's mission is to restore Wyoming's famed Aspen Alley back to its full glory. Half of the trees on Forest Road 801 off the Battle Pass Scenic Byway in southern Wyoming were dead and another 25% were dying. So, they're starting over.

Andrew RossiSeptember 06, 2025

Wild Video Shows Man Totaling Mustang On Beartooth Highway

A tourist captured a man totaling his Ford Mustang this weekend when he took a hairpin turn too fast on the Beartooth Highway. The wild video shows the vehicle flipping numerous times. Somehow, the driver walked away from the crash with minor injuries.

Andrew RossiSeptember 02, 2025

Wyoming Will Lose More Than An Hour Of Daylight Before Fall Officially Starts

Your eyes aren't deceiving you, it's getting dark a lot earlier as the first half of September is when we lose daylight the fastest. Between now and the start of autumn, Wyoming will lose about an hour and 10 minutes of daylight.

Andrew RossiSeptember 02, 2025

Meteorologist Don Day Not That Concerned Over La Niña Watch Prediction

Although the National Weather Service has issued a La Niña Watch for late fall and early winter -- which could mean warmer temperatures and lower snowpack -- meteorologist Don Day says to slow down."Everybody's hair is on fire, but this isn’t a slam dunk situation," he says.

Andrew RossiAugust 31, 2025

Working on one of the huge tailbones of the Jurassic ass are, from top left, Bryan Aivazian Ryan Tutt Jon Yoder Dan Kurfis Dallas Smith and Diego Rao

Digging Wyoming: Casper's Tate Museum Hauls A Jurassic Ass Out Of Alcova

A team of staff and volunteers from the Tate Geological Museum at Casper College spent the first half of August excavating the 150-million-year-old butt of a Brontosaurus-like dinosaur found on a hilltop near the Alcova Reservoir.

Andrew RossiAugust 31, 2025

On a prominent hill in Star Valley, a 1,500-square-foot American flag flies from a 130-foot-tall flagpole. When the massive flag needed to be replaced after a storm, ranch owner Darcel Hulse, 78, insisted on doing the work himself.

78-Year-Old Rancher Scales 130-Foot Flagpole To Fly Massive American Flag Over Star Valley

78-year-old rancher Darcel Hulse said he wanted to show off his patriotism in a big way, so he flies a 1,500 sq. ft. flag from his ranch in Star Valley. When it needed replaced after a storm, he insisted on doing the work himself. "I'm an old guy, but I'm not afraid of heights," he said.

Andrew RossiAugust 31, 2025

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Farmers and fire crews work together to place irrigation pipes around West Yellowstone, Montana, in September 1988. When the still-raging Yellowstone fires turned toward West Yellowstone, fire crews asked local farmers if they could bring their irrigation pipes to form a defensive barrier around the gateway community and save it from the flames.

Firefighters Once Blew Up A River To Save West Yellowstone From Wildfire

During the 1988 Yellowstone wildfires, Idaho farmers set up irrigation pipes to save West Yellowstone from the fast-moving flames. To move enough water through the pipes, they used explosives to blow a hole in the Madison River.

Andrew RossiAugust 30, 2025

From left, Deputies Mosbacher, Harriso and Konegni with the Laramie County Sheriff's Office

Texas Uses Cowboy Hats To Recruit Cops — In Wyoming It's The Culture, Not A Perk

Earlier this week, the Dallas Police Department made a big deal about adding cowboy hats to their official uniform. In Wyoming, it's ingrained in the culture and as automatic as underwear, where “going commando” could easily mean you’re not wearing your cowboy hat.

Andrew RossiAugust 30, 2025

A Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper was hurt Tuesday when a semi crashed into a patrol vehicle on Interstate 80 near Rawlins. A witness who was there said a lot of drivers, not just the semi, failed to slow down or yield to the crash scene or responders.

Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Struck By Semi On I-80 At Scene of Another Incident

A Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper was hurt Tuesday when a semitruck crashed into a patrol vehicle on Interstate 80 near Rawlins. A witness who was there said a lot of drivers, not just the semi, failed to slow down or yield to the crash scene or responders.

Andrew RossiAugust 28, 2025

Body Of Missing Minnesota Hiker Found, Recovered From Bighorn Mountains

The Big Horn County Sheriff's Office confirmed Thursday that the body of Grant Gardner, 38, has been found and recovered from Cloud Peak in the Bighorn Mountains. Gardner summited the peak on July 29, touching off an extensive 20-day search.

Andrew RossiAugust 28, 2025

Around 9 p.m. Tuesday, a Dodge Durango struck a Yamaha R6 motorcycle from behind on Horse Creek Road northwest of Cheyenne. The Yamaha rider was wearing a helmet and is expected to recover from serious injuries, authorities say.

Motorcyclist In Hospital After Getting Smashed From Behind On Wyoming Highway

The rider of a Yamaha R6 motorcycle was hospitalized Tuesday night after getting smashed into from behind by a Dodge Durango on Wyoming Highway 221. The collision embedded the Yamaha deep into the front end of the Durango.

Andrew RossiAugust 28, 2025

Traffic drives through a Wyoming snowstorm in this file photo.

Computers Say Snow For Labor Day In Wyoming, But Don Day Doesn’t Buy It

A long-range computer forecast calling for snow in the first week of September, and possibly on Labor Day, can be misleading, meteorologist Don Day says. Those computer predictions “drive me nuts and gets people all ramped up,” he says. “I hate it.”

Andrew RossiAugust 26, 2025

Forget the night before Christmas, Santa hits Yellowstone National Park four months before. Christmas in August was celebrated Monday, and has been an annual tradition in Yellowstone National Park for more than 70 years.

Why Are They Celebrating Christmas In Yellowstone -- In August?

Forget the night before Christmas, Santa hits Yellowstone National Park every August. Christmas was celebrated on Monday, and has been an annual tradition in Yellowstone for more than 70 years.

Andrew RossiAugust 25, 2025

Calcite Springs in the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park smells bad, even by Yellowstone standards. That's because it's one of the few places in the park where molten sulfur and petroleum come together to form giant, putrid-smelling balls of oil.

The Worst Smelling Place In Yellowstone: Calcite Springs, Where Sulfur And Oil Come Together

Calcite Springs, a thermal feature in the northeast corner of Yellowstone, is one of the park's lesser-known thermal features. It's best known for how awful it smells due to the molten sulfur and petroleum melding to form giant, putrid-smelling balls of oil.

Andrew RossiAugust 24, 2025

You may have never met Frank Alvarado, but you likely have his best friends — a pair of green aliens along the road to Yellowstone’s East Entrance. His daughter thinks they’re “hideous,” but her Vietnam Vet dad loved them, so the aliens stay. They've also been known to do some sightseeing from time to time.

Those Green Aliens Along The Road To Yellowstone A Tribute To Wapiti Vietnam Vet

You may have never met Frank Alvarado, but you may have seen his best friends — a pair of green aliens who occasionally appear on the road to Yellowstone. Now they serve as mobile memorials to the kind Wapiti man, a former Los Angeles cop who survived nearly 50 missions during the Vietnam War.

Andrew RossiAugust 24, 2025