Bighorn Basin & Wyoming Snowballed by Tuesday Snow Storm
Written by Andrew-Rossi on April 13, 2022
Yesterday’s storm managed to cripple much of the Bighorn Basin as highways became too slick with snow to travel safely, shutting down many regional services.
The National Weather Service Office in Riverton complied snow amount totals recorded by northwest Wyoming communities on Tuesday, April 12. Every Bighorn Basin location experienced at least half an inch of snowfall.
- Ten Sleep – 6.0 inches
- Lovell – 5.0 inches
- Worland – 4.0 inches
- Thermopolis – 5.0 inches
- Cody – 0.5 inches
- Powell – 2.5 inches
- Meeteetse – 1.2 inches
The most snow fell in Yellowstone National Park, as you might expect. Mammoth Hot Springs reported a total accumulation of 11.7 inches on Tuesday.
The impact of the sudden snowstorm was clear in northwest Wyoming, with closed schools and stopped services.
That morning, Park County School District #1 canceled all school classes in Powell and Clark. The district cited “extremely dangerous driving conditions” for the cancellation.
Because of the same storm, the Greybull Senior Center stopped its daily meal deliveries. Executive Director Cynthia Johnson says it’s the first time in 28 years the center closed and stopped delivering meals.
Simultaneously, the W.Y.D.O.T. Driver Services office in Lovell closed due to the weather.
Cody, however, had no closures or cancellations. Despite the storm and hazardous conditions, business continued as usual.
Snow should stop falling across the Bighorn Basin this week – except in Cody. The week’s forecast for Cody calls for a decent chance of snow until Friday.
For the rest of the Bighorn Basin, the rest of the week should be sunny with a chance of overnight snow.
However, the Bighorn Basin got off easy, comparatively.
Every route into Sheridan and nearly every road to Gillette – including I-90 – was closed for a few hours on Tuesday due to hazardous driving conditions. As of Wednesday morning, the roads are open but have a High Travel impact due to “slick, drifted snow with blowing snow.”
On Monday evening, W.Y.D.O.T. warned Wyoming drivers of significant road impacts or sections of I-80, I-25, and all of I-90 all day Tuesday. Thankfully, I-90 was impacted but not shut down for the duration of the snowfall.
