Heavy Snow in Wyoming, February 8, 2003

Name: Heavy Snow in Wyoming, February 8, 2003
Start: 2003-02-08T16:45
End: 2003-02-08T16:45
Location: Wyoming

February 8, 2003 · 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 8, 2:49 PM MST, 1 hour 56 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 8, 2:49 PM MST, 1 hour 56 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
249 PM MST SAT FEB 08 2003

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR SUN AND MON...

COMPLICATED FORECAST FOR TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY AS AMPLIFIED WEST
COAST RIDGE CONTINUES A NORTH FLOW ALOFT OVER THE FORECAST AREA. WATER
VAPOR SATELLITE CONTINUES TO SHOW AMPLE MOISTURE MOVING OVER THE RIDGE
WITH EMBEDDED SHORT WAVES.

TONIGHT...SHORT WAVE WILL BE EXITING THE AREA THIS EVENING WHICH
WILL ALLOW SNOW TO DIMINISH ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. WILL CANCEL
CURRENT ADVISORIES AND HEAVY SNOW WARNINGS AS RADAR RETURNS HAVE
BEEN DIMINISHING. MOISTURE CONTINUING TO ADVECT INTO THE AREA OVERNIGHT
AND WILL KEEP HIGH POPS GOING WITH LOW SNOW ACCUMULATIONS.

SUNDAY...ETA BRINGS ANOTHER SHORT WAVE ALONG WITH STRONG 700MB
FRONTOGENESIS OVER LVM AND RED LODGE BY 12Z. MID LEVELS ARE UNSTABLE
WITH 700MB OMEGA VALUES OF -5 UBAR/S WITH MOISTURE CONTINUING TO ADVECT
INTO THE AREA. MAJOR CONCERN IS THAT SNOWFALL MAY BE LIMITED AS DOWN
SLOPING WINDS WILL BE OVER THESE AREAS. WILL MENTION SNOW ACCUMULATIONS
FOR LVM AND RED LODGE ON SUNDAY BUT WILL KEEP THEM BELOW SNOW CRITERIA.
THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST AREA BUT SNOW AMOUNTS WILL BE LIGHT.

SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY...NEXT SHORT WAVE TO DROP INTO THE AREA SUNDAY
NIGHT INTO MONDAY. MAIN AREA OF CONCERN WILL BE OVER SOUTHEAST MONTANA.
FRONTOGENESIS SETS UP ALONG WITH A SHORT WAVE RIPPLING ALONG ARCTIC
BOUNDARY. STRONG WARM AIR ADVECTION WILL BE OVER THE AREA WITH AMPLE
MOISTURE CONTINUING TO MOVE THROUGH NORTHERLY FLOW. WILL NOT ISSUE ANY
HIGHLITES WITH THIS EVENT AS STILL A QUESTION ON WHERE BOUNDARY WILL SET
UP. RICHMOND

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR TUE...WED...THU...FRI...SAT...
REX BLOCK ALONG THE WEST COAST TO HOLD EARLY IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD.
THIS WILL KEEP NORTHWEST FLOW OVER THE AREA. WEAK SHORTWAVES TO SWING
THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. LATELY...IT DOES NOT
TAKE MUCH TO PRODUCE SNOW IN THIS TYPE OF PATTERN. SOME DRYING TO OCCUR
AFTER MONDAYS SYSTEM...SO MOISTURE NOT QUITE AS DEEP. TIMING IN
NORTHWEST FLOW ALWAYS AN ISSUE TOO. AM CONCERNED THAT FORECAST IS TOO
DRY FOR TUESDAY. HEIGHTS ARE PROGGED TO RISE SOME TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY
AS HUDSON BAY LOW PULLS EAST. UNTIL THIS PATTERN CHANGES GREATLY...I
DONT FEEL IT IS PRUDENT TO HAVE NO CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION. WILL PUT
POPS IN FOR TUESDAY...AS MOISTURE STILL HANGING AROUND THE AREA AND
SHORTWAVES CONTINUE TO TRACK THROUGH. MODELS CONSISTENT ON PUSHING
BLOCKING PATTERN EAST A LITTLE THURSDAY. THIS WOULD ALLOW FOR THE DEEPER
NORTHWEST FLOW TO MOVE EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA. WILL KEEP THE FORECAST
DRY WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. TEMPERATURES SHOULD NOT HAVE MUCH
VARIATION UNDER NORTHWEST FLOW. WILL COOL THINGS DOWN A LITTLE BIT FOR
WEDNESDAY BEHIND THE WAVE ON TUESDAY. HUMPHREY

    SUN     MON     TUE     WED     THU     FRI     SAT
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 014/029 021/038 020/039 020/040 021/040 018/036 017/036
    77/S    83/S    22/S    20/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
LVM 011/028 019/036 019/039 018/041 024/039 016/035 015/035
    7+/S    82/S    00/E    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
HDN 014/029 017/040 018/039 018/042 021/041 016/037 015/037
    77/S    83/S    22/S    20/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
MLS 008/026 017/030 017/036 014/039 016/035 014/031 013/031
    77/S    73/S    22/S    20/E    00/E    00/E    00/E
4BQ 010/026 016/035 016/036 013/034 015/038 016/034 017/034
    77/S    76/S    22/S    20/E    00/E    00/E    00/E
BHK 003/023 012/024 012/028 011/035 014/032 013/028 012/028
    77/S    73/S    22/S    20/E    00/E    00/E    00/E
SHR 008/028 018/036 018/038 017/040 020/036 017/032 016/032
    +6/S    84/S    22/S    20/E    00/E    00/B    00/B

.BYZ...NONE.

WY...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 8, 3:02 PM MST, 1 hour 43 minutes before

MTZ028>042-056>058-WYZ098-099-091200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
302 PM MST SAT FEB 8 2003

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

.DAY ONE...
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
PERIODS OF LIGHT SNOW WILL CONTINUE OVER PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL
MONTANA AND NORTHERN CENTRAL WYOMING THIS EVENING. ACCUMULATIONS
WILL BE HELD TO LESS THAN 2 INCHES.

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

WCJIN-WYNW-WYNE
HUMPHREY

In the hours before

Local storm report, Feb 8, 4:05 PM MST, 40 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS, MT
405 PM MST SAT FEB 8 2003

TIME(MST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1230 PM    RED LODGE SKI RESORT      MT   25 INCH HEAVY SNOW
02/08/03   CARBON

1230 PM    RED LODGE                 MT   12 INCH HEAVY SNOW
02/08/03   CARBON

0215 PM    6 S BELFRY                MT   8 INCH HEAVY SNOW
02/08/03   CARBON

0330 PM    STORY                     WY   8 INCH HEAVY SNOW
02/08/03   SHERIDAN

0330 PM    1 S PRYOR                 MT   6 INCH HEAVY SNOW
02/08/03   BIG HORN

TWH

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Sheridan Foothills

When: February 8, 4:45 PM MST
Where: Sheridan Foothills forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

8 inches of new snow in Story

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

Every storm in Wyoming in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Wyoming, February 2003

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: 5341981.