A Pacific front and trough moved across Wyoming and brought strong winds to portions of the central Wyoming. The strongest winds were across the Green and Rattlesnake Range.
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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.
A Pacific front and trough moved across Wyoming and brought strong winds to portions of the central Wyoming. The strongest winds were across the Green and Rattlesnake Range. The RAWS at Camp Creek had a prolonged period of high wind with gusts as high as 89 mph. Other notable winds included 70 mph at the Lander airport and 64 mph at the Casper airport. Meanwhile, snow fell West of the Divide. Although most amounts were light to moderate, banding developed across the Star Valley and brought locally heavy amounts. The highest amount measured was 11 inches at the Star Valley Ranch.
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 4, 2:14 AM MST, 1 hour 17 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Riverton WY 214 AM MST Sat Mar 4 2017 .SHORT TERM...Saturday through Monday night All is mainly quiet at this late hour on Friday night. The one exception is across the southwestern wind corridor where we have had some 50 mph gusts. We threw around the idea of a high wind warning for today, but decided on a Special Weather Statement since the really strong wind should hold off until Sunday afternoon. As for today, the storm moving in from the west today continues to look less impressive, at least through Saturday night. Just about all areas look to have a mainly dry morning and many areas will be dry all through the day. In addition, with warmer temperatures in the valleys, some of the precipitation in the lower elevations may fall as rain. Even tonight, most of the models have backed off with the heaviest precipitation holding until Sunday. Meanwhile, another mild and dry day will be found East of the Divide. We will continue the trend of raising temperatures a few degrees each day with the snow continuing to melt. With the gradual melting of the snow and the thawing of the ground allowing for some absorption of the run off, the flooding risk looks to be less than back in February. However, it is NOT zero so it will still have to be watched. Sunday looks to be the active day as the cold front moves across the state. The heavy snow will move into the west as the front and trough axis approach and the left front quadrant of the jet approach. This has been the pattern all winter and will continue with this system. It does look like a quick hitter though so snow amounts should stay in the advisory range for a vast majority of areas. The heavy snow in the west should end by later Sunday night as a decent area of negative vorticity advection moves in from the west. Meanwhile, the story east of the Divide will be wind. With the tightening of the pressure gradient, 700 millibar winds increasing to 60 to 65 knots, downward momentum from the right front quadrant of the jet and good mixing from the approaching front, high winds look likely across the southwestern wind corridor. As a result, we will continue the high wind watch. The strongest winds should hold off until later Sunday afternoon into Sunday evening as the front approaches in this vicinity. Meanwhile, strong winds will be possible in places like Dubois and maybe even Riverton behind the front Sunday night as the flow turns northwest. Temperatures will be mild once again and snow melt will continue. Some showers will be possible Sunday evening with the frontal passage, but the flow does not look favorable for prolonged upslope flow. The exception, however, will be across the Bighorn range and northern Johnson County. Conditions could get nasty for a time later Sunday night into Monday morning with snow and a strong northwest wind. Most snow should die off by Monday afternoon with only some light orographic snow continuing in the west. Another wave may move into the west later Monday night but timing with that system is a bit inconsistent at this time. So, we kept things generic. Meanwhile, most areas east of the Divide will be blustery and cooler, but not anything unusual for early March. .LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY Synopsis...A moist westerly flow will bring light snow to the western mountains and far west valleys Tuesday, with windy conditions across the southern half of Wyoming. Drier and warmer conditions will prevail Wednesday and Thursday, light snow tapering off across the west Tuesday night and Wednesday. A cold front will spread chances of mountain snow and valley rain across the north and west on Friday. Discussion...Synoptic pattern Tuesday morning features deep closed low pressure system over southern Ontario, Rex Block over the Bering Sea, central Pacific, WNW extends between these two features across the NW U.S. and Northern Rockies. Both GFS and ECMWF show broad ridge developing across the western and central U.S. midweek between upper low over the NE Pacific and eastern Canada. Spread between the two models increases afterwards with GFS shoving the NE Pacific low inland Friday and Saturday while ECWMF shows less changes to synoptic pattern over the Pacific and western U.S., maintaining broad ridge across the western U.S. with Pacific shortwaves riding over the top of the ridge. Forecast based more on ECMWF, favoring less drastic changes to upstream Rex Block. Isentropic upglide pattern takes shape across the west Tuesday for widespread stratiform snow event from around sunrise Tuesday through Tuesday evening. Windy conditions are expected along the lee slopes of the divide and along the Intestate 80 corridor. Significant warmup in store for the area Wednesday and Thursday with westerly flow remaining fairly strong, H7 temperatures rising to 0c to 4C on Thursday, so some 60+ degree readings likely in the warmest spots. Confidence remains low on Friday and Saturday forecast, but hinted at ECMWF's shortwave and associated cold front moving through area Friday with cooling trend and introduction of PoPs across the west and north. Impacts with this system appear minimal overall. Mild westerly flow is still the best bet next weekend with chances of precipitation confined mainly to the west. && .AVIATION.../12Z ISSUANCE/ VFR conditions will prevail across the forecast area through most of the forecast period. Gusty west to southwest winds will develop in the lee of the Continental Divide and across the wind Corridor from South Pass to Casper this morning...persisting through much of the rest of the forecast period. Additionally, low level wind shear will also be present and persistent across the region. Mid to low level clouds will begin to increase across west and northwest Wyoming late in the forecast period ahead of an approaching storm system...with possible MVFR in lower CIGS at KJAC and KPNA near the end of the forecast period. && .FIRE WEATHER... A slow warming trend will continue today for most areas. A system will move into the west and bring some rain and snow but amounts should remain on the light side today and tonight. Meanwhile, dry conditions are expected East of the Divide with some gusty winds across the southwestern Wind Corridor. Mixing and smoke dispersal will be generally fair to poor. Snow will return to the west on Sunday. High winds are likely from the Red Desert through Natrona County on Sunday, especially in the afternoon and evening. Mixing and smoke dispersal will improve to fair to good for most areas. && .RIW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Watch from Sunday morning through Sunday evening for WYZ019-020. && SHORT TERM...Hattings LONG TERM...AEM AVIATION...Braun FIRE WEATHER...Hattings
Hazardous Weather Outlook...CORRECTED National Weather Service Riverton WY 222 AM MST Sat Mar 4 2017 WYZ001>020-022>030-051100- 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- 222 AM MST Sat Mar 4 2017 ...High Wind Watch for the Green Mountains and Natrona County Sunday and Sunday evening... This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for Western and Central Wyoming. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Strong winds likely across from the Red Desert through Casper. Light snow in the western mountains. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday Sunday and Sunday Evening...Moderate to possibly heavy snow likely in the west. High winds possible from Rock Springs through Casper with strong winds possible in many areas East of the Divide. Sunday night and Monday...Moderate snow and strong wind possible in the Bighorn Mountains and Johnson County. Tuesday...Snow likely in the western mountains and far west valleys. Windy conditions across southern Wyoming. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotters are urged to report any snowfall amounts and wind gusts past 50 mph. Thank you.
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Riverton WY 1138 PM MST Fri Mar 3 2017 WYZ019-020-042300- Green Mountains and Rattlesnake Range- Natrona County Lower Elevations- Including the cities of Jeffrey City and Casper 1138 PM MST Fri Mar 3 2017 ...Strong Winds through the day today... Strong southwest winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 50 to 55 mph will persist through tonight and Saturday. Some of the roads most prone to the high winds include Highway 287 around Jeffrey City as well Wyoming Boulevard on the south side of Casper. The strong wind will enhance the blow over risk to high- profile or lightweight vehicles. Check the latest road conditions at wyoroad.info or by dialing 5 1 1.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind, 1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
The ASOS at the Casper airport recorded a wind gust of 64 mph. Along Outer Drive south of Casper, there were several wind gusts between 55 and 60 mph.
Trained spotters reported between 7 and 11 inches of snow through portions of the Star Valley. The highest amount reported was 11 inches at the Star Valley Ranch.
A prolonged period of high wind occurred at the Camp Creek RAWS site. Wind gusts above 58 mph were recorded for over 24 hours straight including a maximum wind gust of 89 mph.
The ASOS at the Lander airport reported a wind gust of 70 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wyoming in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, March 2017
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: 680182, 680184, 680181, 680183.