The lingering winter storm that pummeled most of the state beginning Monday night boosted snowpack in the mountains to seasonal norms and dumped nearly a foot of snow in lower elevations, according to the National Weather Service.

High winds combined with snow, especially in the eastern portion of the state, made for treacherous travel conditions and forced closures along major roadways, including portions of Interstate 80 and I-25.

Crews plow snow in Casper Dec. 14, 2022. (Dustin Bleizeffer/WyoFile)

Paul Willis of Casper was delighted. By Wednesday, the 63-year old and his daughter were on their second round of shoveling for residential clients. “We’ll probably do 20 driveways today,” Willis said, adding that he enjoys the work. You just have to dress for the weather, he said.

Total snowfall varied throughout the state, with nearly 24 inches reported in Edgerton and just a few inches in areas around Cheyenne. Sustained high winds — up to 50 mph across much of southern and eastern portions of the state — made it difficult to accurately measure snowfall, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Michael Natoli.

Snow and high winds make for treacherous travel conditions in Casper Dec. 14, 2022. (Dustin Bleizeffer/WyoFile)

“It was really difficult to get a solid measurement because of how much the wind was blowing [the snow] around,” Natoli said Thursday morning. “It definitely contributed to prolonged road closures. Even though some areas didn’t see that much snow, the relentless wind is just continuing to drift snow back onto the roadways.”

Most major roadways were open Thursday, but travel advisories remained for much of the state.

“We’re still seeing the impacts from the storm today and we’ll see some [Friday] morning too, with the winds just refusing to let up, especially in the eastern part of the state,” Natoli said.

Dustin Bleizeffer is a Report for America Corps member covering energy and climate at WyoFile. He has worked as a coal miner, an oilfield mechanic, and for 25 years as a statewide reporter and editor primarily...

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  1. I have to laugh. I’m from Wyoming but living in London, UK. We had a few inches of snow here – it snows a bit every winter and it almost shut the place down completely. Trains stopped running , tubes were delayed, things were cancelled and shut down. The temps were just below freezing.(They give the temps here in Celsius.) The media was crying out “It’s the coldest night since last February!” Spring comes early here (The daffodils are blooming in February) – so since that last cold night in February, we’ve had spring and summer and a warm autumn and now it’s winter so…guess what? It’s cold again! Seems to happen every winter, strangely enough. I miss waking up with the sound we always heard back home of neighbours already shoveling out their sidewalks and driveways to get out there and get to work on time. Here, if you shovel or sweep the little bit of snow off your own walk, if someone falls, they can sue you, so people are instructed to wait for the Council to do it. I really miss real snow – deep, white, reflecting our clear skies and Wyoming sunshine – I miss the world of real snow, deep, white, Wyoming snow.

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