Wyoming, 2020

Heavy Snow and High Wind in Wyoming, April 22 to 24, 2020

April 22 to 24, 2020 · NWS CYS · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A brief moment of high wind speeds were felt across the South Laramie Range on the 23rd. A Union Pacific Railroad sensor about two miles west of Buford measured a high wind gust of 58 mph.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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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 CYS wrote it up.

A brief moment of high wind speeds were felt across the South Laramie Range on the 23rd. A Union Pacific Railroad sensor about two miles west of Buford measured a high wind gust of 58 mph. A moisten atmosphere and topographic forcing coupled with synoptic forcing aloft assisted in the accumulation of over a foot of heavy snow along the higher elevations of the Snowy Range Mountains by SNOTEL sensors.

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 Cheyenne, WY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 22, 4:38 PM MST, 22 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 22, 4:38 PM MST, 22 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 22, 2:24 PM MST, 2 hours 36 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Snowy Range

When
April 22, 5:00 PM MST to April 24, 11:00 AM MST
Where
Snowy Range forecast zone
Reported by
SNOTEL
Coordinates
41.675, -106.327 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Sand Lake sensor at an elevation of 10050 feet measured a snow water equivalent of 1.2 inches and applying a twelve to one ration gave a total snowfall estimate of 14.0 inches.

High Wind, South Laramie Range

When
April 23, 8:00 AM MST
Where
South Laramie Range forecast zone
Measured
50 kt (58 mph) measured gust
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
41.481, -105.207 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A Union Pacific Railroad sensor about two miles west of Buford measured the reported high wind gust.

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Wyoming in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, April 2020

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 878446, 877865.