An upper low in the Pacific Northwest tracked to eastern Colorado and brought a cold front and favorable northerly upslope flow to central Wyoming. The heaviest snow fell in the eastern Wind River Mountains where 16 inch snow totals were common.
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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.
An upper low in the Pacific Northwest tracked to eastern Colorado and brought a cold front and favorable northerly upslope flow to central Wyoming. The heaviest snow fell in the eastern Wind River Mountains where 16 inch snow totals were common. The upslope also favored Casper Mountain which received about 14 inches of snow, and the Lander Foothills where 6 to 10 inches were measured.
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 Mar 22, 12:23 PM MST, 4 hours 37 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY 123 PM MDT TUE MAR 22 2016 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY CLASSIC NEGATIVELY TILTED DIGGING TROUGH WITH JET ON THE BACK SIDE YET WILL CLOSE OFF OVER CENTRAL WYO AND INTENSIFY THROUGH THE EVENING BEFORE REDEVELOPING SEWD OVER NE CO WED MORNING. H7 CIRCULATION DEVELOPED OVERHEAD THIS MORNING WITH WIDESPREAD SHOWERS BREAKING OUT WITH SNOW ABOVE 5-5.5K FEET. GFS IS VERIFYING BEST IN THE REAL SHORT TERM AND WAS GENERALLY FOLLOWED FOR THIS PACKAGE. MID LEVEL LOW IS EXPECTED TO TRACK/REDEVELOP SLOWLY SEWD THROUGH MIDNIGHT BEFORE MORE SIGNIFICANT JUMP/REDEVELOPMENT INTO NERN CO BY 12Z WED. COMBINATION OF MID LEVEL CIRCULATION... INCREASING QG FORCING AND LEFT EXIT REGION JET STREAK DYNAMICS WILL PRODUCE WIDESPREAD RAIN AND SNOW BECOMING ALL SNOW QUICKLY THIS EVENING AS THE MID LEVEL LOW REDEVELOPS AND THEN STRENGTHENS JUST SLIGHTLY TO THE SE. BEST FORCING WILL LIKELY BE ON THE NW SIDE OF THE LOW AND CENTERED OVER THE WRN END OF ZONE 19...JEFFREY CITY/MUDDY GAP AREA TO BEAVER RIM WHERE OVER A FOOT IS EXPECTED. ALSO LOOKING LIKE LANDER WILL SEE THE WRN EDGE OF ALL OF THIS AND ENOUGH TO UPGRADE THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TO A WINTER STORM WARNING INTO WED MRNG WITH TONIGHT BEING THE PEAK. CASPER STILL LOOKS GOOD AND CPR MTN EVEN BETTER. WRN NATRONA AND CPR MTN WILL SEE THE HIGHER AMTS OVER A FOOT WITH PROBABLY MORE IN THE 5-8 INCHES AROUND CPR WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS NEAR CPR MTN AND TO THE WEST. BYG WILL HAVE TO BE WATCHED DUE TO SNOW AND WINDS GUSTING 45-55 MPH. THE I80 CORRIDOR IS ALREADY SNOWING IN SPOTS AS EXPECTED AND THIS AREA WILL BE A PROBLEM BY THIS EVENING IF NOT SOONER. SYSTEM WILL RELINQUISH ITS GRIP GRADUALLY WEDNESDAY MORNING BUT IT WILL REMAIN UNSETTLED THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH ONE WEAK RIPPLE LATER TOMORROW KEEPING A CHANCE OF MTN SNOW SHOWERS AND THEN A BETTER ONE THU AND THEN STRONGER YET ON FRIDAY SO ODDS INCREASING OF MTN AND WRN SNOW THURSDAY SPREADING EAST OF THE DIVIDE ON FRIDAY. .LONG TERM...FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY GIVEN THE CONCERNS IN THE SHORT TERM WE HAD LITTLE TIME TO LOOK AT THE LONG TERM SO WE MADE ONLY MINOR TWEAKS. LINGERING SNOW FROM THE FRIDAY SYSTEM SHOULD BE ENDING FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST FRIDAY NIGHT WITH A MAINLY DRY CONDITIONS RETURNING FOR SATURDAY. THE ONLY EXCEPTION WOULD BE ACROSS THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS WHERE A FEW OROGRAPHIC SHOWERS MAY FALL BUT EVEN HERE THEY WOULD BE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. RIDGING SHOULD THEN TAKE CONTROL AND BRING MAINLY DRY CONDITIONS SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY WITH MODERATING TEMPERATURES FOR SUNDAY. FOR EARLY NEXT WEEK THE MODELS CONTINUE TO HAVE SOME TIMING DIFFERENCES FOR THE NEXT SYSTEM. THE GFS IS FASTER IN RETURNING SOME SHOWERS AS EARLY AS SUNDAY AFTERNOON TO THE WEST WHILE THE EUROPEAN IS SLOWER AND HOLDS IT OFF UNTIL MONDAY EVENING. AT THIS POINT...WE KEPT SUNDAY DRY AND KEPT POPS FAIRLY SMALL THROUGH MONDAY. THE NEXT DECENT CHANCE FOR PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA STILL LOOKS TO BE TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY AS A TROUGH CROSSES THE AREA AND LEE CYCLOGENESIS OCCURS AND COULD TURN THE WINDS UPSLOPE. STILL PLENTY OF TIME TO WATCH IT THROUGH && .AVIATION.../00Z ISSUANCE/ WEST OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE...KJAC/KRKS/KPNA/KBPI ROUTES A STORM WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT AND BRING SNOWS SHOWERS TO TAF SITES...ALTHOUGH THE HEAVIEST SHOULD SHIFT TO EAST OF THE DIVIDE WITH TIME. EXPECT FREQUENT MVFR AND OCCASIONAL IFR AT TIMES IN HEAVIER SHOWERS ALONG WITH FREQUENT MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS THROUGH AROUND 06Z. CONDITIONS SHOULD IMPROVE LATER TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING AS THE STORM MOVES AWAY TO THE EAST WITH THE EXCEPTION OF KRKS WHERE LOWER CEILINGS AND VISIBILITY MAY LINGER FOR LONGER. MAINLY VFR CONDITIONS SHOULD PREVAIL AFTER 17Z WEDNESDAY ALTHOUGH THE MAY BE OCCASIONAL MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS WITH MOUNTAIN SHOWERS. PLEASE SEE INDIVIDUAL TERMINAL SITES FOR MORE DETAILS. EAST OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE...KCPR/KCOD/KRIW/KWRL/KLND ROUTES CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE TO DETERIORATE THROUGH TONIGHT AS A STORM MOVES INTO THE AREA. CEILINGS WILL DROP TO MVFR AND AT TIMES LOCAL IFR CONDITIONS WITH FREQUENT MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS. THE WORST CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED FROM 03Z THROUGH 12Z TOMORROW. A NORTH WIND WILL INCREASE BEHIND A COLD FRONT AND BRING BLOWING SNOW WITH GUSTS TO 40 TO 50 MPH POSSIBLE IN SOME AREAS. THE LOWEST CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES ARE EXPECTED AT KRIW...KLND AND KCPR. CONDITIONS WILL IMPROVE AFTER 12Z FROM WEST TO EAST AS THE STORM MOVES AWAY TO THE EAST WITH MAINLY VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED AFTER 18Z. PLEASE SEE INDIVIDUAL TERMINAL SITES FOR MORE DETAILS. && .FIRE WEATHER... FIRE DANGER WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK AS A COLD...UNSETTLED WEATHER PATTERN HAS MOVED IN AND WILL CAMP OUT FOR THE WEEK. MOST AREAS WILL SEE SNOW TONIGHT WITH COOL AND UNSETTLED WEATHER KEEPING A CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE MTNS THROUGH FRIDAY AND ANOTHER CHANCE OF SNOW EAST OF THE DIVIDE ON FRIDAY. && .RIW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO NOON MDT WEDNESDAY FOR WYZ003-005-010-011-017-030. WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO NOON MDT WEDNESDAY FOR WYZ018>020-022. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 6 AM MDT WEDNESDAY FOR WYZ008-009- 012>015-023-024-027. && SHORT TERM...SKRBAC LONG TERM...HATTINGS AVIATION...HATTINGS FIRE WEATHER...SKRBAC
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY 241 AM MDT TUE MAR 22 2016 WYZ001>020-022>030-231200- YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK-ABSAROKA MOUNTAINS-CODY FOOTHILLS- NORTH BIG HORN BASIN-SOUTHWEST BIG HORN BASIN- SOUTHEAST BIG HORN BASIN-OWL CREEK AND BRIDGER MOUNTAINS- BIGHORN MOUNTAINS WEST-BIGHORN MOUNTAINS SOUTHEAST- NORTHEAST JOHNSON COUNTY-SOUTHEAST JOHNSON COUNTY- TETON AND GROS VENTRE MOUNTAINS-JACKSON HOLE- WIND RIVER MOUNTAINS WEST-WIND RIVER MOUNTAINS EAST- UPPER WIND RIVER BASIN-WIND RIVER BASIN-LANDER FOOTHILLS- GREEN MOUNTAINS AND RATTLESNAKE RANGE- NATRONA COUNTY LOWER ELEVATIONS-CASPER MOUNTAIN-STAR VALLEY- SALT RIVER AND WYOMING RANGES-UPPER GREEN RIVER BASIN FOOTHILLS- UPPER GREEN RIVER BASIN-SOUTH LINCOLN COUNTY- ROCK SPRINGS AND GREEN RIVER-FLAMING GORGE-EAST SWEETWATER COUNTY- 241 AM MDT TUE MAR 22 2016 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN WYOMING THROUGH TONIGHT... ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES OR WARNINGS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF THE AREA EAST OF THE DIVIDE MAINLY TONIGHT THROUGH NOON WEDNESDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SIGNIFICANT SNOW CONTINUES IN THE WEST THROUGH TONIGHT. RAIN AND OR RAIN MIXED WITH SNOW WILL DEVELOP EAST OF THE DIVIDE THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON...BECOMING MOSTLY ALL SNOW LATER TONIGHT...LASTING THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON. SOME OF THE SNOWFALL COULD BE MODERATE TO HEAVY AT TIMES LATE TONIGHT AND BE ACCOMPANIED BY GUSTY NORTH TO NORTHEAST WIND TONIGHT...ESPECIALLY ACROSS PORTIONS OF EASTERN FREMONT AND NATRONA COUNTIES. PLEASE SEE WINTER WEATHER PRODUCTS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY WEDNESDAY...SNOW TAPERS OFF IN THE WEST WEDNESDAY MORNING...AND BY MID-DAY EAST OF THE DIVIDE. LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS RETURN TO THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY...AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL KEEP SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS THE WESTERN AND NORTHERN MOUNTAINS...SPREADING SOUTH AND EAST FRIDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SNOWFALL AMOUNTS. THANK YOU.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY 127 PM MDT TUE MAR 22 2016 WYZ001-002-231000- YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK-ABSAROKA MOUNTAINS- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...LAKE...MAMMOTH...OLD FAITHFUL 127 PM MDT TUE MAR 22 2016 ...SNOWFALL EXPECTED AT TIMES THROUGH WEDNESDAY... ANOTHER PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL DELIVER A ROUND OF SNOWFALL TO NORTHWESTERN WYOMING THROUGH TONIGHT. SNOW TOTALS BY WEDNESDAY MORNING COULD RANGE FROM 3 TO 7 INCHES ACROSS YELLOWSTONE AND THE ABSAROKA MOUNTAINS...WITH LOCALIZED HIGH MOUNTAIN AREAS SEEING UP TO 8 INCHES. GENERALLY LESS THAN 3 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED OVER VALLEY LOCATIONS. ANTICIPATE A LONGER TIME TO REACH YOUR DESTINATION DURING THIS TIME FRAME AS ROADS WILL LIKELY BECOME SLICK AND SNOW COVERED. STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS CONCERNING THIS UPCOMING WEATHER EVENT. WYZ025-026-028-029-231000- UPPER GREEN RIVER BASIN FOOTHILLS-UPPER GREEN RIVER BASIN- ROCK SPRINGS AND GREEN RIVER-FLAMING GORGE- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...PINEDALE...LA BARGE...BIG PINEY... FARSON...ROCK SPRINGS...GREEN RIVER 127 PM MDT TUE MAR 22 2016 ...COLDER TEMPERATURES ALONG WITH PERIODS OF SNOW THROUGH TONIGHT... SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT PERIOD. SNOW AMOUNTS BY WEDNESDAY MORNING COULD RANGE FROM LOCALLY 2 TO 4 INCHES OVER THE FOOTHILLS...WITH LOWER ELEVATIONS RECEIVING FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES. THE SNOW WILL ALSO BE ACCOMPANIED BY A NORTHWEST WIND OF 15 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 40 MPH LATER TONIGHT. WYZ007-016-231000- OWL CREEK AND BRIDGER MOUNTAINS-UPPER WIND RIVER BASIN- INCLUDING THE CITY OF...DUBOIS 127 PM MDT TUE MAR 22 2016 ...COLDER TEMPERATURES WITH PERIODS OF SNOW THROUGH THE NIGHT... SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT PERIOD. SNOW AMOUNTS BY WEDNESDAY MORNING COULD RANGE FROM LOCALLY 2 TO 6 INCHES OVER THE MOUNTAINS...WITH LOWER ELEVATIONS RECEIVING FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES. THE SNOW WILL ALSO BE ACCOMPANIED BY A NORTH TO NORTHWEST WIND OF 15 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 40 MPH LATER TONIGHT. WYZ004-006-231000- NORTH BIG HORN BASIN-SOUTHEAST BIG HORN BASIN- INCLUDING THE CITY OF...WORLAND 127 PM MDT TUE MAR 22 2016 ...COLDER TEMPERATURES ALONG WITH RAIN TURNING TO SNOW THIS EVENING AND CONTINUING OVERNIGHT... RAIN SHOWERS OR RAIN MIXED WITH SNOW WILL TURN TO ALL SNOW SHOWERS TONIGHT. SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT PERIOD. SNOW AMOUNTS BY EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING COULD RANGE FROM A HALF INCH TO 3 INCHES. THE SNOW WILL ALSO BE ACCOMPANIED BY A NORTH WIND OF 15 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 40 MPH LATER TONIGHT. TEAM RIVERTON
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy snow of 15 to 16 inches fell along the east slopes of the Wind River Range, including the South Pass and Townsend Creek SNOTELs and around 15 inches at Atlantic City.
Trained spotters measured from 6 to 10 inches of snow across the Lander Foothills.
At the Casper Mountain SNOTEL, 14 inches of new snow was estimated.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wyoming in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, March 2016
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: 617838, 617837, 617835.