Winter Storm, Cheyenne Foothills
- When
- December 8, 5:00 PM MST to December 11, 6:30 PM MST
- Where
- Cheyenne Foothills forecast zone
- Injuries
- 21 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $25,000
Winter Storm in Wyoming, December 8 to 11, 1997
Winter storm conditions caused by fresh snow and strong winds contributed to 76 accidents from 2200 12/08 to 1700 12/10 in Laramie and Albany counties. 17 of the accidents involved injuries, the exact number of which are not known.
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 36
- Property damage
- $100,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 4
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS CYS wrote it up.
Winter storm conditions caused by fresh snow and strong winds contributed to 76 accidents from 2200 12/08 to 1700 12/10 in Laramie and Albany counties. 17 of the accidents involved injuries, the exact number of which are not known. 21 passengers on a bus were injured 12/10 when the bus rear-ended an eastbound semi-truck approximately 14 miles west of Cheyenne. The accident was attributed to icy roads and blowing snow. On 12/11, a 73-year-old woman died while trying to reach her ranch on foot after her vehicle became disabled. Her body was located in an abandoned mobile home approximately one-half mile from her vehicle, near the Horse Creek Ranch along the county line between Laramie and Albany counties. The temperature at the time was approximately 20 degrees below zero with wind chills in the vicinity of 70 degrees below zero.
Event by event
4 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Winter Storm, Laramie Range
- When
- December 8, 5:00 PM MST to December 11, 6:30 PM MST
- Where
- Laramie Range forecast zone
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Injuries
- 5 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $25,000
Winter Storm, Laramie Valley
- When
- December 8, 5:00 PM MST to December 11, 6:30 PM MST
- Where
- Laramie Valley forecast zone
- Injuries
- 5 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $25,000
Winter Storm, Pine Bluffs
- When
- December 8, 5:00 PM MST to December 11, 6:30 PM MST
- Where
- Pine Bluffs forecast zone
- Injuries
- 5 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $25,000
The people who died
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Storm, Laramie Range | 1997-12-11 | 73 | Female | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
What these are
- Winter Storm
- A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Winter Weather in Nebraska, December 8 to 9, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, December 8 to 10, 1997
- Tornado in California, December 8, 1997
- Winter Weather in North Carolina, December 8 to 9, 1997
- Winter Storm in Missouri, December 8, 1997
- Winter Weather in Illinois, December 8, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, December 8 to 9, 1997
- Winter Storm in Colorado, December 8 to 10, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Nevada, December 8, 1997
- Winter Storm in Wyoming, December 8 to 9, 1997
- Winter Weather in South Carolina, December 8 to 9, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Kansas, December 8, 1997
More
Every storm in Wyoming in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, December 1997
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5626418, 5626419, 5626420, 5626421.