September 17 - First Winter Storm Hits Wyoming - Updated Precipitation Amounts

A strong low pressure system brought an abrupt change to the warm early fall weather this past weekend. Widespread rain occurred across lower elevations, while snow fell across the higher elevations and valleys of Wyoming. The precipitation began in far western Wyoming on Friday. The powerful storm system tracked through the state on Saturday increasing the precipitation coverage east of the Continental Divide. Still, wrap-around moisture on the west side of this system continued to affect the north half of the area on Sunday. The heaviest snow fell in the Big Horn Mountains. Snowfall was also recorded in the many of the western and northern mountains and even along U.S. 287 from Jeffrey City to Sweetwater Station. At one point on Saturday roads across Powder River Pass and South Pass were closed due to the wind and snow.

Below is a table of snowfall amounts as reported by automatic snow measuring instruments in the Big Horn, and Wind River Mountains (between 0600 on September 16 through 0900 on September 17th):

**Snowfall Amounts September 16-17, 2006**
County	Station Name	Snowfall
Big Horn	Shell Creek SNOTEL	13
Big Horn	Bald Mountain SNOTEL	8
Big Horn	Bone Springs Divide SNOTEL	6
Fremont	Hobbs Park SNOTEL	10
Fremont	Townsend Creek SNOTEL	10
Fremont	Deer Park SNOTEL	8
Fremont	South Pass City	8
Fremont	South Pass SNOTEL	7
Fremont	Sixth Crossing	3
Fremont	Jeffrey City	3
Johnson	Middle Powder SNOTEL	10
Lincoln	Fossil Butte	1.8
Natrona	Arminto 21 North	10
Natrona	Grave Springs SNOTEL	5
Washakie	Leigh Creek	8
Washakie	Split Rock Creek	6

A graphical representation of snowfall totals can be seen by following these links:

Low Resolution Snowfall Map

High Resolution Snowfall Map

Precipitation totals associatied with this storm are provided in the following table. Rainfall and melted snowfall are both calcuated when determining total precipitation received at a given location.

**Total Precipitation September 15-17, 2006**
County	Station Name	Rainfall
Big Horn	Shell	1.83
Big Horn	Lovell	1.02
Big Horn	Basin 5 Northwest	0.70
Big Horn	Greybull Airport	0.62
Big Horn	Burlington 8 Northeast	0.39
Fremont	Sixth Crossing	0.80
Fremont	Shoshoni	0.78
Fremont	Lander Airport	0.60
Fremont	Riverton	0.35
Fremont	Riverton	0.34
Fremont	Pavillion 13 Northeast	0.31
Fremont	Jeffrey City	0.29
Fremont	Riverton Airport	0.14
Fremont	Dubois 10 Northwest	0.13
Fremont	Hudson	0.12
Hot Springs	Thermopolis	1.11
Hot Springs	Thermopolis 9 Northeast	0.75
Hot Springs	Thermopolis	0.60
Johnson	Clearmont 14 Southeast	0.81
Johnson	Buffalo Airport	0.79
Johnson	Kaycee 17 Northwest	0.57
Johnson	Kaycee 17 East	0.57
Johnson	Buffalo 7 Northeast	0.49
Johnson	Barnum 5 Northwest	0.43
Lincoln	Thayne 4 Northeast	0.80
Lincoln	Afton 12 South	0.79
Lincoln	Fossil Butte	0.56
Lincoln	Thayne	0.47
Lincoln	Opal	0.46
Lincoln	Kemmerer 7 East	0.45
Natrona	Casper	0.78
Natrona	Casper 3 South	0.76
Natrona	Casper 4 Southwest	0.76
Natrona	Casper Airport	0.56
Natrona	Midwest	0.55
Natrona	Lysite	0.51
Park	Cody	0.58
Park	Cody 5 Southeast	0.58
Park	Cody	0.52
Park	Powell 4 Southwest	0.50
Park	Powell	0.46
Park	Crandall	0.39
Park	Sunlight Basin	0.33
Park	Meeteetse	0.23
Park	Heart Mountain	0.21
Park	Cody	0.14
Sublette	Boulder Fish Hatchery	0.58
Sublette	Farson	0.55
Sublette	Pinedale 13 Southeast	0.53
Sublette	Big Piney 5 Northwest	0.50
Sublette	Big Piney Airport	0.28
Sublette	Pinedale Airport	0.12
Sweetwater	Red Desert	0.67
Sweetwater	Rock Springs	0.14
Sweetwater	Rock Springs Airport	0.11
Teton	Moose	0.43
Teton	Moose	0.39
Washakie	Ten Sleep 5 Northwest	1.29
Washakie	Ten Sleep 16 Southeast	0.68
Washakie	Worland Airport	0.34
Yellowstone	Bechler River Ranger Station	0.75
Yellowstone	East Entrance	0.17
Yellowstone	Lake Yellowstone	0.16
Yellowstone	Old Faithful Ranger Station	0.05

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September 17 - First Winter Storm Hits Wyoming - Updated Precipitation Amounts