Wyoming, 2002

Heavy Snow in Wyoming, February 28, 2002

February 28, 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 Feb 28, 3:00 PM MST, 4 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 28, 3:00 PM MST, 4 hours 40 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT...CORRECTED SPOT POPS FOR TONIGHT
300 PM MST THU FEB 28 2002

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR FRI...SAT...SUN...
WINTER WEATHER WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE NORTHERN ROCKIES THROUGH THIS
FORECAST PERIOD.

TONIGHT...THE UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE THAT PRODUCED 2 TO 4 INCHES OF SNOW
ACROSS THE BILLINGS FORECAST AREA WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE SOUTH INTO UTAH
AND COLORADO. WITH A PERSISTENT NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT AND DEEP MOISTURE
IN THE REGION...SKIES SHOULD REMAIN CLOUDY WITH SCATTERED LIGHT SNOW
SHOWERS OR FLURRIES TONIGHT.

FRIDAY...THE ETA/AVN BOTH PROG ANOTHER SHORTWAVE TO MOVE ACROSS THE
BILLINGS FORECAST AREA BUT MOST OF THE ENERGY WITH THIS WAVE WILL BE
OVER EXTREME WESTERN MONTANA AND IDAHO. WITH VERY COLD TEMPS ALOFT...
INSTABILITY SNOW SHOWERS ARE STILL A GOOD POSSIBILITY SO I WILL GO
WITH A 30 POP FOR SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS MY FORECAST AREA ON FRIDAY.

FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY...THE ETA/AVN BOTH PROG THE NEXT UPPER LEVEL
SHORTWAVE AND SURGE OF ARCTIC AIR TO ROTATE AROUND THE POLAR VORTEX OVER
HUDSON BAY AND MOVE SOUTH ACROSS THE NORTHERN ROCKIES LATE FRIDAY NIGHT
OR EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. THE AVN IS A BIT STRONGER WITH THE ARCTIC
HIGH PRESSURE AND FASTER IN MOVING THE SURFACE ARCTIC FRONT ACROSS THE
AREA ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE ETA ALSO BUILDS THIS ARCTIC
INTO THE AREA BUT IT IS A BIT SLOWER WITH THE FRONTAL PASSAGE AND PROGS
IT TO BE EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. WITH 1000-500 MB THICKNESSES PROGGED TO
BE BELOW 500 DECAMETERS ACROSS EASTERN MONTANA...VERY COLD TEMPS CAN BE
EXPECTED. I WILL PUT A 30 POP FOR SNOW SHOWERS IN THE FORECAST FOR
SATURDAY MORNING...WITH THE ARCTIC FRONTAL PASSAGE...AND THEN MENTION
PARTIAL CLEARING SKIES ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON. WITH PARTIAL SUN EXPECTED
ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON...I WILL GO ABOUT 4 OR 5 DEGREES ABOVE MOS
GUIDANCE.

FOR SUNDAY...THE AVN PROGS YET ANOTHER SHORTWAVE TO MOVE THROUGH THE
NORTHWEST FLOW ACROSS MONTANA. THIS WAVE APPEARS TO BE MUCH WEAKER
THAN THE PREVIOUS TWO WITH LIMITED DYNAMICS ASSOCIATED WITH IT. STILL IT
WILL WARRANT A MOSTLY CLOUDY FORECAST WITH A 20 POP FOR SNOW SHOWERS ON
SUNDAY. TEMPS SHOULD REBOUND ON SUNDAY INTO THE 30S AS A WARM AIR
ADVECTION PATTERN SETS UP ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE RETREATING HIGH
PRESSURE. KUHL

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR MON...TUE...WED...THU...
EXTENDED PROGS SHOWING A LITTLE MORE CONSISTENCY IN THE LAST FEW RUNS.
LATEST AVN AND MRF CONTINUING TO SHOW TROUGH BUILDING INTO PACIFIC
NORTHWEST BY TUESDAY MORNING. CANADIAN AND UKMET ALSO SHOWING THIS
FEATURE...BUT ARE A LITTLE MORE PROGRESSIVE WITH IT. EUROPEAN
MODEL HOLDING TROUGH BACK OVER PACIFIC AND BUILDING A RIDGE INTO THE
WEST...AND THUS IS MUCH WARMER THAN OTHER MODELS FOR TUES/WED TIME
PERIOD. WILL CONTINUE WITH COOLER TREND WHICH WAS FOLLOWED BY PREVIOUS
FORECASTS. CURRENT PRECIP CHANCES IN FORECAST CONTINUING TO LOOK ON
TRACK WITH TROUGH MOVING INTO AREA AND POSSIBLE DEEP SURFACE LOW BEING
HINTED AT BY MODELS. FOR THURSDAY...UPPER TROUGH FORMS IN PACIFIC
NORTHWEST ONCE AGAIN...RESULTING IN ZONAL FLOW ACROSS MONTANA. WILL
LEAVE CURRENT FORECAST AS IS WITH ONLY MINOR TWEAKS. WILL INTRODUCE DAY
SEVEN USING TEMPS SLIGHTLY ABOVE THOSE FORECAST FOR DAY SIX...AS H8
TEMPS AND THICKNESSES ARE SIMILAR OR SLIGHTLY WARMER FOR DAY SEVEN. JZ

    FRI     SAT     SUN     MON     TUE     WED     THU
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 003/016 000/022 010/035 018/036 018/030 013/025 010/028
    43/J    33/J    22/E    22/E    34/S    43/S    22/E
LVM 000/015 901/020 012/033 019/036 019/030 014/025 011/027
    93/J    33/J    22/E    22/E    34/S    43/S    22/E
HDN 002/016 901/023 011/035 016/036 016/030 011/025 008/028
    43/J    33/J    22/E    22/E    34/S    43/S    22/E
MLS 901/012 903/022 003/030 014/034 014/028 009/024 006/025
    33/J    33/J    22/E    22/E    34/S    43/S    22/E
4BQ 000/011 904/020 005/030 013/034 014/028 009/024 006/025
    33/J    33/J    22/E    22/E    34/S    43/S    22/E
BHK 902/010 906/019 003/031 011/033 011/027 006/023 005/024
    33/J    33/J    22/E    22/E    34/S    43/S    22/E
SHR 902/012 903/017 001/034 015/035 015/031 010/026 009/027
    93/J    33/J    22/E    22/E    34/S    43/S    22/E

.BYZ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL
       MONTANA AND THE FOOTHILLS OF SHERIDAN COUNTY WYOMING FOR THIS
       EVENING.

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, E Sheridan

When
February 28, 7:40 PM MST
Where
E Sheridan forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

5 inches of new snow 6 miles northeast of Sheridan

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, February 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: 5278830.