Arctic air

by Katie Klingsporn February 12, 2021

A storm with wind gusts up to 25 mph batters the Mormon Row historic site in Grand Teton National Park. (Timothy C. Mayo)

On the heels of an unusually mild January, winter roared back this week with gelid temperatures, icy winds and snowstorms that are expected to grip much of Wyoming through the weekend.

In a Wednesday video from the Riverton National Weather Service forecast officer, meteorologist Chris Hattings laid out a scenario for a frigid few days. Winter storm advisories and storm watches are in effect for the northwest corner of the state, with very cold temperatures hitting the Bighorn Basin and spreading east, south and finally west.

“Now I know you are saying, ‘Chris it’s been cold the past few days in most of these areas,’ but it looks like it’s going to get even colder,” Hattings said.

That includes forecasted lows of 20 degrees below zero in towns like Worland and Sheridan, but what’s even more concerning, Hattings said, is the windchill factor, which could make it feel as cold as 36 below in Greybull, 38 below in Buffalo and 29 below in Riverton.

“So again, bundle up if you have to go outside,” Hattings advised. “This is dangerous cold.”

The Riverton office warned residents to keep pets and cattle safe and to expect hazardous driving conditions, mainly in the northwest.

Support Wyoming photography — donate to WyoFile today.

Katie Klingsporn

Katie Klingsporn reports on outdoor recreation, public lands, education and general news for WyoFile. She’s been a journalist and editor covering the American West for 20 years. Her freelance work has... More by Katie Klingsporn

Join the Conversation

1 Comment

WyoFile's goal is to provide readers with information and ideas that foster constructive conversations about the issues and opportunities our communities face. One small piece of how we do that is by offering a space below each story for readers to share perspectives, experiences and insights. For this to work, we need your help.

What we're looking for:

Your real name — first and last.
Direct responses to the article. Tell us how your experience relates to the story.
The truth. Share factual information that adds context to the reporting.
Thoughtful answers to questions raised by the reporting or other commenters.
Tips that could advance our reporting on the topic.
No more than three comments per story, including replies.

What we block from our comments section, when we see it:

Pseudonyms. WyoFile stands behind everything we publish, and we expect commenters to do the same by using their real name.
Comments that are not directly relevant to the article.
Demonstrably false claims, what-about-isms, references to debunked lines of rhetoric, professional political talking points or links to sites trafficking in misinformation.
Personal attacks, profanity, discriminatory language or threats.
Arguments with other commenters.

Other important things to know:

Appearing in WyoFile’s comments section is a privilege, not a right or entitlement.
We’re a small team and our first priority is reporting. Depending on what’s going on, comments may be moderated 24 to 48 hours from when they’re submitted — or even later. If you comment in the evening or on the weekend, please be patient. We’ll get to it when we’re back in the office.
We’re not interested in managing squeaky wheels, and even if we wanted to, we don't have time to address every single commenter’s grievance.
Try as we might, we will make mistakes. We’ll fail to catch aliases, mistakenly allow folks to exceed the comment limit and occasionally miss false statements. If that’s going to upset you, it’s probably best to just stick with our journalism and avoid the comments section.
We don’t mediate disputes between commenters. If you have concerns about another commenter, please don’t bring them to us.

The bottom line:

If you repeatedly push the boundaries, make unreasonable demands, get caught lying or generally cause trouble, we will stop approving your comments — maybe forever. Such moderation decisions are not negotiable or subject to explanation. If civil and constructive conversation is not your goal, then our comments section is not for you.