Winter Storm in Wyoming, February 6 to 7, 2001

Name: Winter Storm in Wyoming, February 6 to 7, 2001
Start: 2001-02-06T15:30
End: 2001-02-07T10:15
Location: Wyoming

February 6 to 7, 2001 · NWS UNR · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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 UNR wrote it up.

A digging upper level trough over the Southwestern United States supported an overrunning/warm front pattern to develop over the northern plains and along the front range of the central and northern Rockies. Strong low level, moisture laden warm air moved over cold air already in place over the northern plains. Snowfall developed quickly over western South Dakota during the afternoon and evening of Feb. 6, and spread into Northeastern Wyoming. By early the morning of the 7th, heavy snow had fallen over nearly all of northeastern Wyoming. Campbell, Crook, and Weston counties were covered with 8 to 10 inches. The heaviest snow fell in the Bear Lodge Mountains and Wyoming Black Hills, where 9 to 18 inches of snowfall were widely reported.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Rapid City, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 6, 2:20 PM MST, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 6, 2:20 PM MST, 1 hour 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
220 PM MST TUE FEB 6 2001

MAJOR WINTER STORM TO AFFECT CWA OVER NEXT 24-36 HRS. ETA HAS BEEN
VERY CONSISTENT LAST FEW RUNS AND HAVE FOLLOWED. AREAS OF SNOW
ALREADY FALLING IN BLK HLS AND ALONG AND N OF I-90. KRAP HAS ONLY
SEEN FLURRIES SO FAR...BUT AS UPSLOPE DEEPENS OVR NEXT 6
HRS...EXPECT MOD TO HEAVY SNOW TO DVLP. UVVS APPROACH 7-8 UBAR/S
ACRS CTRL AND SRN ZONES TNGT AND PUSHES INTO ERN ZNS TMRW. THETA-E
ADV VERY STRONG ACROSS SRN COUNTIES AS WL TNGT. PLENTY OF LL
MOISTURE ALREADY IN PLACE AND WV SHOWS PLENTY OF MID LVL MOISTURE
MVG INTO WRN SD ATTM. ON TOP OF ALL OF THESE POSITIVE FACTORS...H85
FRONTOGENESIS IS VERY IMPRESSIVE THROUGH CWA.  ETA PUTTING OUT QPF
TOTALS OF 0.3-0.5 ACRS MUCH OF AREA THRU 12Z WED. GIVEN TEMP
PROFILES A 15:1 RATIO LKS REASONABLE. THIS PUTS 4-8 INCHES THRU CTRL
AND SRN COUNTIES...2-4 INCHES IN FAR NORTHERN AREAS.  HAVE GONE WITH
WINTER STORM WARNING S AND CTRL...ADV FOR NE WY AND NWRN SD.

TMRW BEST DYNAMICS ARE IN FAR ERN ZNS...BUT AREA COMES UNDER THE
FAVORABLE AREA OF THE H70 DEFORMATION ZONE. ISENTROPIC LIFT STARTS
TO MINIMIZE...ESP W. ALTHOUGH THE UPSLOPE FLOW WILL CONTINUE AND
ALLOW FOR LT SNOW TO CONTINUE THRU THE DAY.  WIND WL ALSO BLOW AT
15-30 MPH CREATING BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. AN ADDITIONAL 2-4
INCHES IN THE WRN ZONES AND AN ADDITIONAL 4-6 IN THE E.  SOME AREAS
WITHIN A 50 MILE RADIUS OF KPHP COULD APPROACH 15-18 INCHES BY THE
TIME ALL IS DONE.

WED NIGHT...AN UPR LVL WAVE WL PASS THRU AHEAD OF H50 TROF. DECENT
UVV AND THETA-E ADV CONT S OF I-90 AND CONTINUED UPSLOPE WL ALLOW LT
SNOW TO CONTINUE BUT SHLD BE DECREASING IN INTENSITY. ADDITIONAL
ACCUMULATIONS ARE LIKELY IN THE S WITH JUST FLURRIES OR LIGHT SNOW
SHOWERS IN THE NORTH.

BY THURS...MAINLY JUST FLURRIES SHLD REMAIN AS MOISTURE AND DYNAMICS
ALL PUSH E. WENT WITH MAINLY CHC POPS THRU CWA.

IN THE EXTENDED...A WEAK RDG PASSES OVR AREA FRI WITH ANOTHER SYSTEM
APPROACHING FOR WEEKEND.  MRF SHOWS THIS ONE COULD BE ANOTHER BIG
SNOW PRODUCER ON SUN.  THE CHC FOR SNOW WL CONTINUE THRU TUE AS A
SECOND TROF MVS INTO THE WRN US.

.UNR...WINT STM WARNING TNGT AND WED SW AND SCNTRL SD.
       WINTER WX ADVISORY FOR NE WY AND NW SD TNGT AND WED.

JMG

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Wyoming Black Hills

When: February 6, 3:30 PM MST to February 7, 12:45 AM MST
Where: Wyoming Black Hills forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.215, -104.569 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Gillette

When: February 6, 7:00 PM MST to February 7, 12:40 AM MST
Where: Gillette forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.248, -105.548 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, South Campbell

When: February 6, 7:00 PM MST to February 7, 9:30 AM MST
Where: South Campbell forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.248, -105.548 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Moorcroft

When: February 6, 7:00 PM MST to February 7, 9:40 AM MST
Where: Moorcroft forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.589, -104.570 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Weston

When: February 6, 7:00 PM MST to February 7, 10:15 AM MST
Where: Weston forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.841, -104.568 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

Every storm in Wyoming in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Wyoming, February 2001

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: 5230552, 5230553, 5230554, 5230555, 5230556.