Wyoming, 2020

Heavy Snow in Wyoming, December 28 to 29, 2020

December 28 to 29, 2020 · NWS CYS · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Heavy snowfall accumulations over a foot were estimated by various SNOTEL sensors across the Sierra Madre and Snowy Ranges in southeastern Wyoming.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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.

Heavy snowfall accumulations over a foot were estimated by various SNOTEL sensors across the Sierra Madre and Snowy Ranges in southeastern Wyoming.

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 Dec 28, 10:57 AM MST, 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 28, 10:57 AM MST, 3 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 28, 6:22 AM MST, 4 hours 38 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

2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Sierra Madre Range

When
December 28, 11:00 AM MST to December 29, 4:00 PM MST
Where
Sierra Madre Range forecast zone
Reported by
SNOTEL
Coordinates
41.695, -106.931 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Little Snake River sensor at elevation of 8915 feet measured a snow water equivalent of 0.3 inches and applying a ratio of twenty to one gave estimated total of 16.8 inches.

Heavy Snow, Snowy Range

When
December 28, 11:00 AM MST to December 29, 4:00 PM MST
Where
Snowy Range forecast zone
Reported by
SNOTEL
Coordinates
41.675, -106.327 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Medicine Bow sensor at elevation of 10510 feet measured a snow water equivalent of 0.1 inches and applying a snow to liquid ratio of twenty to one gave estimated snowfall total of 14.0 inches.

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

More

Every storm in Wyoming in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, December 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: 930559, 930560.