Winter Storm, Wyoming Black Hills
- When
- March 14, 9:50 AM MST to March 15, 4:04 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 in Wyoming, March 14 to 15, 2001
A strong storm system developed rapidly over the northern Rockies in the predawn hours of March 14. Copious amounts of moisture were available to this system as it moved across Wyoming and into the Nebraska Panhandle.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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 strong storm system developed rapidly over the northern Rockies in the predawn hours of March 14. Copious amounts of moisture were available to this system as it moved across Wyoming and into the Nebraska Panhandle. The storm began as rain with an expected change over to snow, especially in the higher elevations of the Bear Lodge Mountains. The change-over occurred by 950 am MST. Over the ensuing 18 hours 7 to 10 inches of snow fell over eastern Crook County. Hulett, Wyoming reported 10 inches of total accumulation by early morning of the 15th. Strong winds of 20 to 35 mph accompanied this storm and produced considerable blowing and drifting snow through the event.
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 Mar 14, 3:15 AM MST, 6 hours 35 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 14, 3:15 AM MST, 6 hours 35 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
315 AM MST WED MAR 14 2001
...ADDED HEADLINES AND PRECIPITATION TYPE DISCUSSION...
09Z SURFACE ANALYSIS PUT LOW OVER THE WY/ID/MT BORDER WITH STRONG
PRESSURE FALLS ACROSS ACROSS NORTHEAST WY. FALLS BEING CAUSED BY
VIGOROUS SHORTWAVE OVER MT. JET STREAK NOW ENTERING WESTERN WY PER
WATER VAPOUR WITH STRONG FORCING AHEAD OF IT CAUSING AN EXPANDING
AREA OF PRECIPITATION ACROSS MT/NORTHWEST WY PER REGIONAL RADAR
LOOP. SOME LIGHTNING NOTED. THE EFFECT OF THIS SYSTEM THE MAIN
CONCERN THIS FORECAST.
THE 00Z ETA/NGM/AVN INITIALIZED ALRIGHT AND AT 06Z THE ETA HAD THE
BEST HANDLE ON UPPER LEVEL FEATURES. 06Z ETA SIMILAR TO 00Z ETA.
STRONG SHORTWAVE WILL CUTOFF OVER NEB BY THIS EVENING AND SWIFTLY
MOVE EAST BY THURSDAY. WE/LL BE LEFT WITH NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT.
TODAY/TONIGHT...SYSTEM RACES SOUTHEAST WITH STRONG UPPER LEVEL
DIVERGENCE IN THE LEFT EXIT REGION OF JET STREAK. LAPSE RATES IN THE
7-8C/KM RANGE WITH WELL-DEFINED QG AND FRONTOGENETIC FORCING.
SURFACE LOW WILL PASS JUST TO THE SOUTH OF CWA AS LI/S APPROACH
ZERO. IN ADDITIONAL TO STRONG SYNOPTIC FEATURES WE/LL SEE
NORTH/NORTHEAST BOUNDARY LAYER WINDS ALLOWING UPSLOPE ENHANCEMENT TO
THE EAST/NORTHEAST SIDE OF THE BLACK HILLS. OF COURSE THIS MEANS
DOWNSLOPE HOLES SOUTHWEST OF THE HILLS. THIS COMPACT/ENERGETIC STORM
SYSTEM VERY SIMILAR TO MARCH 5/10 1999 SYSTEM THAT GAVE PARTS OF OUR
CWA 12-18 INCHES OF SN. NO TWO SYSTEMS ALIKE...BUT 06Z ETA QPF
PAINTS A SWATH OF 0.50-0.75 INCHES LIQUID BETWEEN 18Z-00Z. WE/RE
CONVINCED. DRY SLOT/DEFORMATION ZONE FLY IN OINTMENT AS WELL AS
MIXTURE OF RAIN AND SLEET AT ONSET...DAY SHIFT WILL NEED TO WATCH
CLOSELY...BUT WET BULB ZERO/S SUPPORT SNOW WITHIN 1-2 HOURS OF
PRECIPITATION START. WILL ISSUE WINTER STORM WARNINGS FOR UPSLOPE
AREAS AND ADVISORY FOR SOUTH CENTRAL WHERE UPSLOPE LACKING. WATCH
OUT FOR +TSSN AND THEN BLSN AS NORTHWEST WINDS HOWL BEHIND SYSTEM
TONIGHT.
THURSDAY...MUCH QUIETER WITH ONLY A SMALL CHANCE OF -SN IN THE BLACK
HILLS.
IN THE EXTENDED...NO CHANGES NEED.
.UNR...WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH THIS EVENING MOST OF
NORTHEAST WY.
WINTER STORM WARNING THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING NORTHERN BLACK
HILLS AND SURROUNDING PLAINS.
WINTER STORM WARNING THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT RAPID CITY
AND jSURROUNDING PLAINS.
HELGESONThe radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, March 14, 2001
- High Wind in Texas, March 14, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, March 14, 2001
- Drought in Washington, March 14, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, March 14, 2001
- Hail in Kansas, March 14, 2001
- High Wind in Colorado, March 14, 2001
- Winter Storm in South Dakota, March 14 to 15, 2001
- Flooding in Nebraska, March 14 to 16, 2001
- High Wind in Texas, March 14, 2001
- High Wind in New Jersey, March 14, 2001
- Flood and Hail in Kansas, March 14, 2001
More
Every storm in Wyoming in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, March 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: 5233926.