Winter Storm in Wyoming, February 1, 2017

Name: Winter Storm in Wyoming, February 1, 2017
Start: 2017-02-01T00:00
End: 2017-02-01T09:00
Location: Wyoming

February 1, 2017 · NWS BYZ · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Another in a series of winter storms impacted north central Wyoming. Heavy snow impacted the Big Horn Mountains, as well as the Sheridan Foothills.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 happened

The episode as NWS BYZ wrote it up.

Another in a series of winter storms impacted north central Wyoming. Heavy snow impacted the Big Horn Mountains, as well as the Sheridan Foothills. Burgess Junction in the Big Horn Mountains picked up 19 inches of new snow. Two semi trucks jackknifed on Interstate 90 westbound just north of Sheridan near the port of entry. This resulted in a considerable amount of backed up traffic that was unable to exit the interstate.

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 Jan 31, 9:24 PM MST, 2 hours 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 31, 9:24 PM MST, 2 hours 36 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion...Updated
National Weather Service Billings MT
924 PM MST Tue Jan 31 2017

.UPDATE...

Snowfall will very slowly end from north to south this evening.
Majority of the snow is now from Park County to Yellowstone County
and areas south, as the snow has ended north and east of this
line. Radar is showing the bulk of the snow as being light but a
few heavier bands continue across the Beartooth/Absaroka foothills
through southern Big Horn County into Sheridan County. A very
strong 150kt jet will continue to move across the forecast area
tonight but the main dynamics and upper level support will be
shifting south into Wyoming. Models continue to place a strong
area of frontogenesis across the Beartooth/Absaroka foothills, as
well as the Big Horn Mountains this evening and this is where the
heaviest snow bands have been occurring. As a result, I did
increase snow chances to 100 percent along the foothills areas
from Sheridan to Livingston.

The area of frontogenesis is expected to shift south into Wyoming
later tonight taking the heavier snow with it. No changes are
planned with the current advisories/warnings. Previous forecast
discussion below has all this covered well. Updated forecast has
been sent. Hooley

&&

.SHORT TERM...valid for Tue and Wed...

Considerable snowfall occurring across the western half of our
CWA. Several inches have fallen within our highlighted areas
with 3-6 inches of accumulation common. The higher amounts in the
Park City to Livingston corridor and down into the foothills.
Sheridan is also pushing 4-5 inches at mid afternoon. Based on
reports and expectation of additional snowfall and impacts, we
have upgraded Sheridan, Red Lodge Foothills, Eastern Carbon and
Southern Big Horn to Winter Storm Warnings. Southern Yellowstone
County may see some amounts approach 6 inches or more as well, but
feel the heaviest snow will be over by 5 or 6 PM so have just left
it in a Winter Weather Advisory.

Pacific jet stream oriented over our region is providing extra
lift as it pushes moisture over the easterly flow of cold air.
There is a powerful 150 kt jet max that is passing through and
will exit this evening. We should see snow let up a bit at that
point and sink a little south. Areas of snow will fluctuate
overnight and into early Wednesday, depositing a few more inches
of snowfall, mainly over and near higher terrain. The snow should
all but completely end Wednesday afternoon as surface high
pressure settles into eastern plains of Montana. We do expect at
least some snowfall to continue over west facing slopes in the
high country as some Pacific moisture continues to make into the
mountains.

Cyclonic flow with the primary trough axis shifting across our
region will bring the snow further north again into our CWA.
Question is how far north? EC and NAM are much more aggressive
than the GFS. We will blend solutions but align PoP's toward the
EC due to the track of the energy aloft which is right over our
area. We may need to issue advisories again for Thursday as
another few inches of snow are possible, but we will let this
initial round end first. BT

.LONG TERM...valid for Thu...Fri...Sat...Sun...Mon...

Models continue to show weak shortwave ridging Friday, with some
Pacific moisture over the southwestern mountains. Have continued
PoPs in the mountains, through the weekend. While most of the
activity will be over the mountains, some could drift onto the
adjacent plains. Tempeatures look to moderate some so have
temperature in the 30s for highs and 20s for lows. Going into
Sunday winds will increase, so will continue to monitor for
possible wind highlights. With the warming temperature, this
should help keep blowing snow issues at bay.

Into early next week, a stronger system moving in from the
northwest. Have continued the inherited PoPs. Reimer

&&

.AVIATION...

Snow will decrease across the northern half of the area overnight
but KLVM and KSHR will continue to see IFR until daybreak.
Periods of snow will continue at KBIL until 0900UTC but patchy
fog could keep low visibilities around into the morning hours.
borsum

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS...

    Tue     Wed     Thu     Fri     Sat     Sun     Mon
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 021/026 011/017 005/014 001/024 017/034 022/039 017/025
    ++/S    65/S    56/S    41/B    12/S    21/B    22/S
LVM 022/030 008/015 002/013 904/033 025/044 032/046 025/033
    ++/S    96/S    66/S    42/S    23/O    22/R    33/S
HDN 023/027 007/017 001/015 905/023 011/031 013/039 014/027
    ++/S    73/S    34/S    51/B    12/S    21/B    22/S
MLS 026/026 007/016 001/013 902/018 010/025 011/032 012/021
    77/S    11/B    11/B    11/B    12/S    11/B    22/S
4BQ 025/028 006/016 901/014 905/023 014/033 014/037 015/027
    76/S    72/S    13/S    41/B    01/E    11/B    12/S
BHK 023/024 004/012 902/011 904/016 009/026 008/031 011/020
    88/S    11/B    01/B    21/B    11/E    11/E    22/S
SHR 028/030 007/015 901/012 903/025 015/037 017/041 018/031
    +9/S    +7/S    65/S    41/B    12/S    11/B    12/S

&&

.BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...Winter Storm Warning in effect until 6 AM MST Wednesday FOR
      ZONES 28-34-38>42-56-63>66.
     Winter Weather Advisory in effect until 6 AM MST Wednesday
      FOR ZONES 29-35-57-58.
     Winter Storm Warning in effect until 6 PM MST Wednesday FOR
      ZONES 67-68.
WY...Winter Storm Warning in effect until 6 AM MST Wednesday FOR
      ZONE 99.
     Winter Weather Advisory in effect until 6 PM MST Wednesday
      FOR ZONE 98.

&&

weather.gov/billings

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 31, 8:37 PM MST, 3 hours 23 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
837 PM MST TUE JAN 31 2017

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0830 PM     HEAVY SNOW       1 WSW ROBERTS           45.37N 109.16W
01/31/2017  M7.0 INCH        CARBON             MT   PUBLIC

0800 PM     SNOW             7 SSW SONNETTE          45.32N 105.91W
01/31/2017  M1.6 INCH        POWDER RIVER       MT   CO-OP OBSERVER

0700 PM     HEAVY SNOW       BIG TIMBER              45.83N 109.95W
01/31/2017  M8.0 INCH        SWEET GRASS        MT   CO-OP OBSERVER

0600 PM     SNOW             20 ESE COLSTRIP         45.82N 106.23W
01/31/2017  M1.5 INCH        ROSEBUD            MT   CO-OP OBSERVER

0600 PM     SNOW             5 W MELVILLE            46.10N 110.05W
01/31/2017  M3.7 INCH        SWEET GRASS        MT   CO-OP OBSERVER

0600 PM     SNOW             1 S RAPELJE             45.97N 109.26W
01/31/2017  M5.6 INCH        STILLWATER         MT   CO-OP OBSERVER

0600 PM     SNOW             3 ENE RIDGEWAY          45.50N 104.45W
01/31/2017  M1.0 INCH        CARTER             MT   CO-OP OBSERVER

0600 PM     SNOW             3 NNW MIZPAH            46.29N 105.29W
01/31/2017  M1.8 INCH        CUSTER             MT   CO-OP OBSERVER

&&

DLB

Event by event

2 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Sheridan Foothills

When: February 1, 12:00 AM MST to 9:00 AM MST
Where: Sheridan Foothills forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Snowfall of 6 to 10 inches was reported across the area.

Winter Storm, Northeast Bighorn Mountains

When: February 1, 12:00 AM MST to 7:00 AM MST
Where: Northeast Bighorn Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: SNOTEL

Burgess Junction Snotel received 15 inches of snow while Dome Lake Snotel reported 12 inches of snow.

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Wyoming in 2017 Every state in 2017 This day in weather history Warnings in Wyoming, February 2017

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: 668931, 669111.