Weather system with snow showers, high winds expected to hit county overnight

(Riverton, Wyo.) – The National Weather Service Forecast Office in Riverton warned late Saturday of a new storm front expected to enter Western and Central Wyoming overnight. The NWS said there would be increasing clouds tonight and that conditions would begin to worsen through the overnight hours, with snow showers developing across western portions. Precipitation is predicted to spread across the rest of the area by sunrise, with rain/snow showers exepcted in the lower elevations. Winds will rapidly increase Sunday morning across the area. Snow will mainly be confined to the higher elevations with this event, with places like South Pass receiving near-blizzard conditions.

Conditions will rapidly improve overnight Sunday, as winds diminish and precipitation ends.

A Winter Storm Warning has been posted for the Wind River Mountains late Saturday through Sunday, a Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for the Northwest corner of Wyoming through Sunday morning and a High Wind Watch is in effect from late Sunday morning through Sunday evening from Dubois and Rierton south of Rock Springs.

The NWS advisory reads:

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL WYOMING.

.DAY ONE…TODAY AND TONIGHT

SNOW AND STRONG WIND WILL DEVELOP OVER THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS LATE TONIGHT AND SPREAD TO THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF THE FAR WEST.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN…SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT…VERY WINDY ACROSS MUCH OF THE STATE WITH GUSTS OVER 50 MPH POSSIBLE ACROSS MANY LOWER ELEVATION AREAS. EVEN STRONGER WINDS WITH GUSTS OVER 60 MPH ARE QUITE POSSIBLE FROM DUBOIS TO RIVERTON…SOUTH TO LANDER…THE GREEN MOUNTAINS AND RATTLESNAKE RANGE AND ACROSS SWEETWATER COUNTY.

SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED IN THE NORTHERN AND WESTERN MOUNTAINS WITH A FEW INCHES OF SNOW POSSIBLE ACROSS THE NORTHERN BASINS AND ALONG THE INTERSTATE 25 CORRIDOR. TRAVEL COULD BECOME HAZARDOUS…ESPECIALLY OVER HIGHER ELEVATION PASSES INCLUDING SOUTH PASS AND ALONG NORTH-SOUTH ORIENTED ROADWAYS.

CHECK THE VARIOUS WINTER WEATHER AND HIGH WIND STATEMENTS FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY…INCREASING SNOWFALL IN THE WEST WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT. TURNING COLDER WITH RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS…AND POSSIBLY A THUNDERSTORM OR TWO…DEVELOPING ACROSS CENTRAL WYOMING ON THURSDAY.