SE Wyoming Braces For -40 Wind Chill, Cheyenne, Laramie Advisories
The Cheyenne Office of the National Weather Service is warning southeast Wyoming could see wind chills of between -25 and -40 with a strong arctic front that is moving into the area.
As of 6:30 am Monday, Cheyenne and Laramie are facing wind chill advisories starting on Tuesday while Laramie was also looking at a winter weather advisory. The National Weather Service Wind Chill Advisory is issued when conditions are expected to be severe enough to threaten human life if precautions are not taken.
Much of southeast Wyoming and the entire state was facing some kind of severe weather advisory as well.
The agency posted this statement and graphic on its website:
Bitter cold temperatures will sweep across the area by this evening, and combined with the winds the next couple of days, wind chill values of -25F to -40F will be present. Surface temperatures will struggle to reach zero above for afternoon highs on Tuesday and Wednesday. Overnight lows will be in the negative single digits to teens. Due to this weather setup, Wind Chill Warning and Advisories have been issued for a prolonged period of Tuesday morning through Thursday morning. Limit time spent outdoors to prevent the possibility of frostbite this week.
The Cheyenne NWS also posted the following additional information:
Snow will increase in coverage and intensity across portions of southeast Wyoming and the northern Nebraska Panhandle today, becoming heavy at times later this morning through this evening for Carbon and western Albany County, especially the Sierra/Snowy Mountains. The northern Laramie Range and areas in Niobrara County/northern Sioux County that contain the higher elevation of the Pine Ridge could also see higher localized accumulations greater than 6 inches. Areas in the pink shading can expect 6-12 inches of snow over the next 24 hours, with potential for localized totals approaching 15 inches near and around Rawlins where localized snow banding is anticipated to set up today. A sharp gradient in snowfall totals will exist from northwest to southeast across southeast WY and southern NE, and uncertainty still exists regarding the southern extent of the snowfall totals currently expected to be just north of Laramie. Areas in the purple shading can expect 3-6 inches, except the northern Laramie Range. Finally, very heavy snowfall is expected in the mountains with up to 1-2 feet of accumulation expected in the Snowys and Sierra Madres through Tuesday afternoon! Expect very cold temperatures to filter into the region tonight into Thursday with widespread wind chills as low as 20 to 40 degrees below zero. Travelers and recreationists should plan accordingly today and tomorrow