
08/03/2025
***Winter Storm Breakdown And Forecast Accuracy***
Let’s say we definitely redeemed ourselves on this event as over 80% of the forecast area was spot on in terms of our forecast. The one exception to this rule was the southern Star Valley and portions of western I80 where significantly more snow fell than expected. This was likely due to the fact that there was not enough blocking along the Salt Range to allow the snow to primarily fall on the eastern side of the mountains allowing for more moisture than expected to make it into the Soutyern Star Valley. All other areas the forecast was within a couple inches of being spot on which for Wyoming is a win in our book and road impacts were communicated quite well in the forecast as well as several major roadways were closed or under no unnecessary travel orders throughout the event. Here are some snowfall forecast to actual snowfall comparisons.
Lander
Actual - 12”
Forecast - 10”-15”
Northern Star Valley
Actual - 6”
Forecast - 3”-5” with up to 8” near Alpine
Casper
Actual - 12”
Forecast - 10”-15”
Buffalo
Actual - 11”
Forecast - 10”-15”
Lander Foot Hills
Actual - 18”
Forecast 15”-20”
Jackson
Actual - 3.5”
Forecast - 2”-4” locally 8” near Hoback
Southern Star Valley
Actual - 9”-18”
Forecast - 2”-4” with locally 8” on the high benches.
Rock Springs
Actual - 12” some reports from a follower up to 18”
Forecast - 10”-15”
Bondurant
Actual - 12”
Forecast - 10”-15”
Gillette
Actual - 5”
Forecast - 4”-6”
South Pass
Actual - 24”-30”
Forecast - 25”-30”
Overall a cery good forecast with minimal errors except for the western edge of Wyoming. Other than this we hope you all stayed safe during this past winter storm. It looks like we do have a breif break coming in before our next system rolls through but we will save that for another post. Have a great night everyone! Below is a link for the offical snowfall reports as well as a map of radar extrapolated snowfall accumulations. https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=RIW&issuedby=RIW&product=LSR&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1