Wyoming, 2002

Heavy Snow in Wyoming, December 4, 2002

December 4, 2002 · NWS BYZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 heavy snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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 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 Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 4, 3:54 PM MST, 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 4, 3:54 PM MST, 6 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
354 PM MST WED DEC 4 2002

...UPDATED OVERNIGHT LOWS/POPS FOR BILLINGS/HARDIN...

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR THU AND FRI...
MODELS IN FAIR AGREEMENT WITH ONE ANOTHER WITH META HANDLING OVERALL
PATTERN THE BEST...YET NUMERICAL GUIDANCE FOR TEMPS OFF QUITE A BIT.
WITH RECENT SNOWFALL AND AMOUNT OF COLD AIR HOLDING OVER THE REGION WILL
BACK OFF ABOUT TEN DEGREES FROM WHAT NUMERICAL GUIDANCE IS SUGGESTING
FOR HIGHS. THIS THINKING COMES IN LINE WITH PRESENT FCST NUMBERS IN
PLACE THROUGH THE SHORT TERM. ONLY CONCERN FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS
WILL BE THE STRENGTH OF THE WIND FROM THE SOUTHWEST THAT DEVELOPS AND
HOW FAST/SLOW ANY SNOW WILL MELT ACROSS SC/SE MT...THUS TEMPS WILL BE
TRICKY BETWEEN NOW AND SAT. WARMER AIR BEGINS TO MOVE INTO THE REGION AT
700MB ON THU OVER THE EASTERN PORTION OF THE CWA AND WITH WINDS SHIFTING
TO THE SOUTHWEST. WARMING CONTINUES AT 700MB/850MB FRI AND WILL BUMP UP
TEMPS ACROSS THE REGION ABOUT 3 DEGREES...AGAIN IN LINE WITH PREVIOUS
FCST THINKING. OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL BE COLD DUE TO RADIATIONAL COOLING AS
CLOUDS DECREASE TONIGHT. AMOUNT OF SNOW COVER WILL ALSO AID IN TEMPS
FALLING. PRESENT WEATHER OF LIGHT SNOW WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH AND END
LATE THIS AFTN/EARLY EVENING AS JET STREAK EXITS THE REGION AND WILL
KEEP POPS ON THE LOW SIDE BEFORE GOING DRY REMAINDER OF THE SHORT TERM
PACKAGE. SPRINGER

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR SAT...SUN...MON...TUE...WED...
PER MIDNIGHT DISCUSSION...GFS MODEL IS BRINGING A GLANCING BLOW OF COLD
AIR INTO AREA SATURDAY. AVN THIS RUN LOOKS TO BE EVEN WARMER AND MORE
PROGRESSIVE THAN LAST...SO WONT BITE INTO IT GOING FURTHER WEST AT
THIS TIME AND KEEP TEMPERATURES IN THE 20S AND 30S (FROM EAST TO
WEST) WITH CHANCE POPS. AGAIN...WILL NEED TO KEEP AN EYE ON THIS SYSTEM
IF IT DOES BACK FURTHER TO THE WEST FOR COLDER CONDITIONS EVERYWHERE AND
WETTER IN WESTERN ZONES...BUT AT THIS TIME LOOKS LIKE IT WILL NOT.
THIS SYSTEM PROGGED TO BE QUICKLY OUT OF AREA SUNDAY WITH THICKNESSS
REBOUNDING TO 544 IN WESTERN ZONES WITH DOWNSLOPING SOUTHWEST SURFACE
FLOW. AVN WARMING 850 MB TEMPERATURES FROM -5C 00Z SUNDAY TO 2C 00Z
MONDAY IN MILES CITY. THIS MAY BE A BIT TOO QUICK...BUT DO THINK
SYSTEM WILL BE PROGRESSIVE ENOUGH FOR TEMPERATURES TO WARM INTO AT LEAST
LOWER 30S EASTERN ZONES...WITH UPPER 30S IN THE WEST.  SHORTWAVE RIDGE
THEN SLIDES INTO AREA MONDAY FOR ANOTHER MILD AND DRY DAY...PER CURRENT
FORECAST. WILL WARM TEMPERATURES A FEW DEGREES FROM MONDAYS HIGHS
GENERALLY IN THE MID 30S TO LOWER 40S. NEXT SHORTWAVE APPROACHES AREA
FOR TUESDAY...WITH EXTENDED MODELS HAVING FAIRLY SIMILAR FORECASTS FOR
IT...BASICALLY KEEPING MOST ENERGY TO THE SOUTH WITH WEAK UPPER FLOW
OVER MONTANA...FOR DRY CONDITIONS...AGAIN PER CURRENT FORECAST. RASCH

    THU     FRI     SAT     SUN     MON     TUE     WED
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 003/030 019/035 020/031 020/038 023/040 023/038 023/036
    70/B    00/B    03/J    00/E    00/B    00/B    00/B
LVM 011/030 018/039 021/035 020/040 024/042 024/040 019/032
    20/B    00/B    03/J    00/E    00/B    00/B    00/B
HDN 009/030 018/035 020/032 018/041 021/043 022/038 024/036
    20/B    00/B    03/J    00/E    00/B    00/B    00/B
MLS 003/033 013/036 017/025 011/034 017/036 020/036 021/034
    00/B    00/B    02/J    20/E    00/B    00/B    00/B
4BQ 004/033 015/039 019/031 013/034 019/036 022/037 020/034
    00/B    00/B    02/J    20/E    00/B    00/B    00/B
BHK 000/032 011/034 014/020 007/029 015/035 019/033 018/032
    00/B    00/B    02/J    20/E    00/B    00/B    00/B
SHR 006/032 012/037 020/033 012/039 015/041 022/040 021/034
    70/B    00/B    03/J    00/E    00/B    00/B    00/B

.BYZ...
MT...NONE.
WY...NONE.
Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 4, 5:00 AM MST, 11 hours before
MTZ028>042-056>058-WYZ098-099-051145-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
500 AM MST WED DEC 4 2002

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL...SOUTHEAST
MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING.

.DAY ONE...
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

WCJIN-WYNW-WYNE

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Sheridan Foothills

When
December 4, 4:00 PM MST
Where
Sheridan Foothills forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

6 inches of new snow in Dayton

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Wyoming in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, December 2002

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: 5322774.