Wyoming, 2002

Heavy Snow in Wyoming, March 14, 2002

March 14, 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 Mar 14, 1:55 PM MST, 1 hour 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 14, 1:55 PM MST, 1 hour 35 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
155 PM MST THU MAR 14 2002

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR FRI...SAT...SUN...
STORM SYSTEM OVER WYOMING SLOWING BREAKING UP AND PULLING TO THE EAST.
WILL LET HEAVY SNOW WARNINGS EXPIRE AT 400 PM. CONVECTIVE SNOW WILL
PERSIST INTO THE EVENING BEFORE ENDING BY 800 PM. WILL THROW IN SOME
LOW POPS TO COVER. SKIES WILL BECOME PARTLY CLOUDY LATER TONIGHT AS
DRIER AIR AND SUBSIDENCE MOVE IN. STILL CAN EXPECT SOME PATCHY FOG IN
A FEW AREAS HOWEVER.

AVN/ETA ARE IN SURPRISING GOOD AGREEMENT OUT TO 60HRS. FRIDAY LOOKS TO
BE SHOWER FREE AS WEAK SHORTWAVE RIDGING MOVE INTO STATE. THERE COULD
BE MOUNTAIN SHOWER AS AIRMASS STILL CONDITIONALLY UNSTABLE. DEEPENING
STORM SYSTEM BEGINS TO TAKE SHAPE OVER PACIFIC NORTHWEST. AREA COMES
UNDER INFLUENCE OF SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT...WITH STRONG COLD FRONT
REMAINING NORTH UNDER SATURDAY MORNING.

MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT ABOUT DEVELOPING SFC LOW OVER SOUTH CENTRAL
MONTANA BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON. THIS LOW MAINLY A REFLECTION OF EJECTING
SHORTWAVE FROM MAIN SYSTEM. SATURDAY LOOKS LIKE THE WARMEST DAY AS
STRONG COLD FRONT BEGINS TO CREEP INTO STATE. AS SFC LOW PULLS EAST...
MAIN BAND OF PRECIP LOOKS TO REMAIN NORTH OF ZONES INITIALLY. AFTER
COLD AIR GETS PULLED INTO WESTERN ZONES SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY...DO
EXPECT SOME SNOW TO DEVELOP. EASTERN ZONES LOOK TO MISS OUT ON INITIAL
PRECIP SHOT. HOWEVER...MODELS MAY BE PLACING SFC LOW TOO FAR NORTH...
SO EVERYTHING MAY BE SHIFTED SOUTH IN LATER MODELS RUNS. WILL PUT SOME
POPS IN AND COOL DOWN TEMPS CONSIDERABLY FOR SUNDAY FOR THIS FORECAST.
HOWEVER SATURDAY COULD BE MUCH WARMER...OR MUCH COOLER THAN GOING
FORECAST...ALL DEPENDENT ON COLD FRONTAL TIMING. MUCH UNCERTAINTY DUE TO
POOR MODEL TRACK RECORD AND ONSET OF EARLY SPRING. SCARLETT

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR MON...TUE...WED...THU...

LATEST AVN CONTINUING THE 00Z MRF TREND OF BRINGING PACIFIC STORM
SYSTEM MORE TO THE EAST INTO SOUTHERN ID AND DRAGGING COLD AIR INTO THE
REGION...AVN SHOWING SINGLE DIGIT LOWS ON MONDAY FOR THE WESTERN
COUNTIES WITH LOW TEENS FOR HIGHS. ALTHOUGH THE AVN DID PRETTY WELL ON
TEMPS WITH THE LAST ARCTIC SYSTEM THE MODELS HAVE SO FAR NOT HANDLED
THIS PARTICULAR SCENARIO VERY WELL. THE ECMWF IS STILL GOING WITH THE
SOUTHERLY APPROACH TO THIS SYSTEM AND KEEPS THE MAJORITY OF THE COLD AIR
IN CENTRAL CANADA. SEEMS TO BE A GOOD BET THAT THE COLD AIR WILL GET
INTO THE REGION GIVEN THE AMPLIFICATION OF THE RIDGE IN THE PACIFIC
WHICH SHOULD DEVELOP A COLD HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM IN WESTERN CANADA. THE
QUESTION FOR NOW IS HOW COLD AND HOW LONG WILL IT STAY. FOR NOW WILL
BRING TEMPS DOWN TO BEGIN THIS TREND BUT NOT GO AS STEEP AS THE AVN
SUGGESTS UNTIL MODEL RUNS BECOME MORE CONSISTENT. EVENING SHIFT WILL
NEED TO CONSIDER BUMPING TEMPS DOWN AGAIN IF NEXT AVN IS IN GOOD
AGREEMENT WITH 12Z RUN.

THE NEXT PROBLEM IS PRECIPITATION...LATEST AVN/MRF SHOW VERY MOIST
CONDITIONS WITH LOW LEVEL FLOW BACKING TO A NE DIRECTION AND MOIST
SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. IF COLD AIR IS IN PLACE THIS COULD BE ANOTHER
PROLONGED SNOW EVENT WITH ENERGY ROTATING THROUGH THE BASE OF THE
TROUGH IN THE SOUTHWEST PROVIDING SHOTS OF HEAVIER SNOW. AGAIN
MODEL INCONSISTENCY PREVENTS ME FROM COMPLETELY BUYING IN TO WHAT
THE MODELS ARE SAYING BUT WILL UP POPS TO CHANCE CATEGORY FOR MON AND
TUE. AGAIN LATER SHIFTS SHOULD LOOK CLOSELY AT POTENTIAL FOR HIGHER
POPS. CHAMBERS

    FRI     SAT     SUN     MON     TUE     WED     THU
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 022/042 025/044 018/030 015/027 012/025 012/025 010/026
    20/E    02/W    34/S    33/J    33/J    22/E    22/E
LVM 021/037 020/042 015/027 010/025 010/024 010/025 008/025
    30/E    02/W    34/S    33/J    33/J    22/E    22/E
HDN 020/043 024/046 017/032 015/028 013/025 010/026 012/026
    20/E    02/W    34/S    33/J    33/J    22/E    22/E
MLS 022/043 024/046 020/033 020/029 018/025 012/025 011/027
    20/E    00/E    24/J    33/J    33/J    22/E    22/E
4BQ 020/043 022/046 020/034 022/030 019/027 013/026 012/027
    20/E    00/E    23/J    33/J    33/J    22/E    22/E
BHK 020/041 022/045 018/030 025/030 019/026 012/025 010/026
    20/E    00/E    24/J    33/J    33/J    22/E    22/E
SHR 014/037 014/044 018/036 017/029 016/027 015/025 013/026
    40/E    00/E    22/J    33/J    33/J    22/E    22/E

.BYZ...ALL HEAVY SNOW WARNINGS EXPIRE AT 400 PM.

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Northeast Bighorn Mountains

When
March 14, 3:30 PM MST
Where
Northeast Bighorn Mountains forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER

18 inches of new snow in Big Horn Mountains

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, March 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: 5280512.