A Pacific storm system brought heavy snow and strong winds to the western Wyoming mountains. Snowfall amounts included upwards of 2 feet at Grand Targhee Ski Resort and 1 to 2 feet elsewhere.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS RIW wrote it up.
A Pacific storm system brought heavy snow and strong winds to the western Wyoming mountains. Snowfall amounts included upwards of 2 feet at Grand Targhee Ski Resort and 1 to 2 feet elsewhere. The combination of strong winds and heavy snow closed both Teton and Togwotee Passes and the highway between Moose and Moran Junction. Both Grand Targhee and Jackson Hole ski areas closed ski lifts due to the strong winds.
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 Riverton, WY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 20, 2:40 AM MST, 11 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY 240 AM MST SUN JAN 20 2002 THE 09Z SFC CHART PLACES LOW PRESSURE OVER ERN MT AND THE NRN PLAINS AND HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE SW US. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY INDICATES TROF AXIS PASSING EAST OF CTRL WY THIS MORNING WITH NW FLOW UPSTREAM. MSTR IN THIS FLOW HEADED FOR THE WRN MTNS. WINDY CONDITIONS ARE BEING REPORTED AT SNOW SPRINGS AND FALES ROCK THIS MORNING...OTHERWISE WINDS ARE GENERALLY LIGHT TO BREEZY ACROSS THE FA. CURRENT TEMPS ARE IN THE TEENS AND LOW 20S MOST PLACES EAST OF THE DIV WITH TEMPS 5 BELOW TO 5 ABOVE WEST VLYS. MAIN PROBLEM THIS FCST IS THREAT OF HIGH WIND. LATEST MESOETA BL WIND INDICATES WIND MAY FLIRT WITH HIGH WIND CRITERIA LATE THIS AFTERNOON FOR AN HOUR OR TWO. YESTERDAY THE WIND BRIEFLY REACHED THE CRITERIA AT BVR AND CPR AND WOULD EXPECT THE SAME TODAY WITH 120KT JET STILL WEST OF WY. THE WIND IS PROGGED TO DROP OFF SOME IN THE EVENING BUT SHOULD REMAIN IN THE VERY WINDY CATEGORY SUN NIGHT AND MON WITH JET PASSING OVERHEAD. BY MON AFT...WHEN MIXING WILL BE THE BEST THE MAIN PART OF THE JET WILL BE IN THE PLAINS SO DO NOT EXPECT ANY WIDESPREAD HIGH WIND PROBLEMS MONDAY. PLAN TO CANCEL HIGH WIND WATCH FOR ZNS 14/15. NORTHWEST FLOW CONTINUES AND GRADUALLY BECOMES MORE ZONAL ON MON IN ADVANCE OF NEXT TROUGH DUE TO AFFECT THE FA ON TUE. OTHER THAN UPSLOPE IN THE WESTERN MTNS THE ETA MODEL IS NOT SHOWING ANY SIG SHTWV ENERGY IN THE FLOW UNTIL TUE. SN SHOULD BE LIGHT IN THE WRN MTNS/VLYS THROUGH MON NIGHT. SNOWFALL AMTS SHOULD RANGE FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES IN THE MTNS FOR EACH 12 HR PERIOD. THE TROF AXIS IS STILL OVER THE CA COAST MON NIGHT AND THEN MOVES INTO THE WRN FA TUES AFT. THE AVN SEEMS TO BE TIMING ENERGY MOVING EAST OF THE DIVIDE TUE AFT. UNTIL THEN DOWNSLOPE FLOW/SUBSIDENCE WILL DOMINATE THE FA EAST OF THE DIVIDE WITH GOOD MIXING TO HELP WARM UP THE BASINS. H7 TEMPS INDICATE TEMPS TDY SHOULD BE SIMILAR TO YSTDY. MON A WARMUP IS PROGGED WITH H7 TEMPS WARMING ABOUT 5 DEGREES AND THEN GETTING COLDER ON TUE WITH APPROACH OF TROF. CURRENT EXTENDED LOOKS ON TRACK WITH NEW MRF. RIW...NONE. FS
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wyoming in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, January 2002
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: 5277969, 5277970, 5277971.