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 covers energy and climate at WyoFile. He has worked as a coal miner, an oilfield mechanic, and for more than 25 years as a statewide reporter and editor primarily covering the energy...

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. 

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  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.

    Reply