Driving to Thermop from Denver vs. Billings (Casper, Gillette: live, deal)

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by janb

weather looks great (tho subject to change...)
Climate Prediction Center - 8 to 14 Day Outlook

As noted, the weather pattern right now doesn't look like a lot of moisture coming our way, so it's unlikely that you'll have anything to deal with except blue skies and maybe some wind.

whoops.... heed the 'subject to change' part

OTOH, the end of March is right in the middle of the snowiest portion of our winter. It's possible that you'll encounter everything and anything from severe clear to blizzard/white out conditions to iced up roads to road closures ...

[sunsprit]

And Today's Update ... 3-23-09 ... is that the main road system of Central and Eastern Wyoming is CLOSED. SHUT DOWN.

Even though it's only a modest amount of snowfall, and the winds aren't as treacherous as they can get at times ... I-80 is closed from Exit 377 Eastward, and from Cheyenne Westward until the middle fo the state. I-25 is closed from Guernsey all the way North. It wouldn't matter if you were trying to head to Thermop from Denver or from Billings right now ... the roads are closed. Don't yet have a forecast as to when they will re-open.

The bulk of the storm appears now to have passed us by to the SD area, East, and somewhat South from there. So we've missed out the big bit of moisture forecast for this quick storm frontal passage, but they're still forecasting moisture and cold themps through the end of the week.

[WyoNewk]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

... Even though it's only a modest amount of snowfall, and the winds aren't as treacherous as they can get at times....

Whew! (pant, pant)

I just came in from shoveling a bit of the walk in front of the house. Even though the snow is still falling and blowing and is forecast to continue for another 20 hours, I figured I'd better do something, because I couldn't get any outside doors open. I finally pushed the front door open enough to get out, but it was a tight fit for my gut.

Anyway, I wouldn't call our snow in Gillette a "modest amount." They're saying 12-18 inches by noon Tuesday, and let me tell you, it's some heavy stuff!

[georgiainwyo]

Billings to Thermop may have been doable. Talked to my son in Billings and it is dry as a bone today!

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by GEORGIAINMT

Billings to Thermop may have been doable. Talked to my son in Billings and it is dry as a bone today!

and having lunch today at I-80 exit 377, the TA Truckstop ... we were in clear blue skies with no snow on the ground, with a flew clouds blasting over the top of us and strong sunshine.

meanwhile, I-80 was closed West of Cheyenne and just East of us on I-80. There was NO traffic on I-80 as we went home on the frontage road. The TA was slow for business, because nobody was coming through except locals on surface roads.

Billings may have been "dry as a bone today" ... but the roads in Central Wyoming were CLOSED due to conditions. Even where they weren't closed, such as the Lander-Riverton area, "no uneccessary travel rules" were in effect. It would have been a very tough go to make it to Thermop ... most likley impossible due to road closures, and especially treacherous conditons for the OP of this thread.

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by WyoNewk

Whew! (pant, pant)

I just came in from shoveling a bit of the walk in front of the house. Even though the snow is still falling and blowing and is forecast to continue for another 20 hours, I figured I'd better do something, because I couldn't get any outside doors open. I finally pushed the front door open enough to get out, but it was a tight fit for my gut.

Anyway, I wouldn't call our snow in Gillette a "modest amount." They're saying 12-18 inches by noon Tuesday, and let me tell you, it's some heavy stuff!

12-18" in a spring snowstorm with "blizzard" conditions in a 40 hour period is a "modest amount" by Wyoming storm standards.

What will really catch you is the blowing snow into the large drifts across the roads, or the front of your house or garage, or in your driveway. Just wait until the storm front passes (the actual snowfall stops) and the winds pick up the snow off the ground and blow it into drifts for a few days until the snow is all gone ... melted or blown to Kansas.

[WyoNewk]

I guess your idea of modesty is different than mine, Sunsprit.

I missed the biggest spring storm Gillette's had since I moved here in 1971. I can't recall the exact date, but it was mid to late April in maybe 1983 or so. (I think you're a pilot.) Well, I had a Piper PA24-250 that I flew to Newton, Kansas for its annual. I took off from the Gillette airport just ahead of a storm coming in, got to Newton, checked into a hotel, turned on the radio and heard about the blizzard in Gillette. My wife and kids took pictures to show me. They had to tunnel out of the house -- drifts were to the eaves. I can't recall the exact snow amount, but I'm thinking it was around 24" -- with lots of wind, obviously.

When I got home a week later it was all gone.

Incidentally, I can't see that I shoveled the walk now.

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by WyoNewk

I guess your idea of modesty is different than mine, Sunsprit.

I missed the biggest spring storm Gillette's had since I moved here in 1971. I can't recall the exact date, but it was mid to late April in maybe 1983 or so. (I think you're a pilot.) Well, I had a Piper PA24-250 that I flew to Newton, Kansas for its annual. I took off from the Gillette airport just ahead of a storm coming in, got to Newton, checked into a hotel, turned on the radio and heard about the blizzard in Gillette. My wife and kids took pictures to show me. They had to tunnel out of the house -- drifts were to the eaves. I can't recall the exact snow amount, but I'm thinking it was around 24" -- with lots of wind, obviously.

When I got home a week later it was all gone.

Incidentally, I can't see that I shoveled the walk now.

It's all relative, depending upon your area of Wyoming.

I think Gillette has a lot more wind patterns ... and less "upslope" conditions compared to places closer to mountain ranges ... that take more of it's area moisture further East ... say to the Black Hills area, and over by Rapid City to Belle Fourche. So 12-18" might be one of the bigger storm dumps in your area.

For us in the SE WY, it's not such a big event ... I've seen multiple storms of this much snow in 40 hours in the last decade, which has been more of a drought period than wet.

Of course, the wind blowing the snow around after it's fallen is a big factor. We've had several spring storms forcing us to use the 2nd story hall window to get out of the house because the front entries are blocked all the way to the soffet at the 2nd level addition. Fortunately, our house is built into the side of a berm so it's only a short drop off the 1st level roof to the top of the snowdrifts on the side of the house.

Of these storms, we've had numerous times where the drifts build up so solidly on our fences that our horses can wander out of the corrals ... up into our pastures and ag fields. That's a pretty solid snowpack to support a horse to go over a hidden barbed wire fence.

It's not optional for us to keep getting out of the house through the day ... livestock to feed in corrals and in the barns. Having lost electricity for most of the day, we had to keep after the water supply and heat for the little ones.

Nice bird, by the way ... I looked at several 250's and 260's before settling on a C180. The call of the backcountry instead of the speed/efficiency of a cross country cruiser, plus the added access for baggage/bicycles/camping gear. Given the opportunity and the budget, we'd have had a 170B, a 180, and a P210 or a late Mooney for the cross country work to meet all of our flying scenarios ... but I'm only a working guy, so had to settle on just one, and among the least expensive at that.

[StealthRabbit]

hopefully OP (graceshan) got to Thermop BEFORE the storm, and is currently soaking in a warm spot. It is a good place to get 'snowbound'. I enjoy the eerie fog over the pools and sitting out in the pool during a snow storm. I've spent too many snowy nights roaming around the barnyard or pasture or driving across WY, so.... pool time feels like quite a benefit. (tho I like being out in an occasional snow storm). Hopefully OP is not stuck at Hell's Half Acre, that would not be fun.

[georgiainwyo]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

Billings may have been "dry as a bone today" ... but the roads in Central Wyoming were CLOSED due to conditions. Even where they weren't closed, such as the Lander-Riverton area, "no uneccessary travel rules" were in effect. It would have been a very tough go to make it to Thermop ... most likley impossible due to road closures, and especially treacherous conditons for the OP of this thread.

I don't know how it was this morning, but last night roads from Thermop to Billings weren't bad. Just some icy in spots, some wet. Family who lives along the route said they didn't get much at all, if anything. That must be the "sun belt" of Wyoming right now!