Lander Lil Predicts Early Spring For Wyoming

Punxsutawney Phil is a loser and is usually wrong. Today, he predicted that we will see 6 more weeks of winter. WELL - he's probably correct this time. The rest of the northern hemisphere, worldwide, has been experiencing a harsh winter. But for states like Wyoming, we have been missing it. (More on why later in this article.)

This morning, Wyoming's version of Punxsutawney Phil, Lander Lill, made her prediction. She predicted an early spring.

That is not surprising when you realize that we have not really had a winter this year, here in Wyoming.

Lander Lil, a bronze statue of a prairie dog, has been predicting the future of winter weather for Wyoming since 1984. There really was a real Lander Lil before the installation of a larger-than-life bronze statue, which stands lookout from her perch on the grounds of the local Post Office.

Early this morning, Punxsutawney Phil announced 6 more weeks of winter.

Winer has been slamming the rest of the nation, but Western states like Wyoming are wondering why winter has passed them by this year.

We got a few little kicks of cold and a touch of snow in the lowlands. But not much. Our mountains are packed with snow, that's good. But where the heck is winter for states like Wyoming?

It's now the beginning of February, and we still have mild temperatures. Where the heck is the snow? That wind has really been annoying.

I keep asking our regional weatherman, Don Day of Day Weather, if he sees a break in this trend. He always hesitates and then refuses to commit to an answer.

We've posted this a few times, but let's look again at why winter is slamming the rest of the nation but missing us.

Look at that high-pressure system in the National Weather Service image below. That is the culprit.

Now look at how that high pressure bows the weather around us and down into the eastern side of the US. That's why they are getting nailed by winter weather this year, and not us.

We just need that high-pressure system to move a little west. That's all.

Below we see the warmer weather in red and the cold winter weather in greens, blues, and purples. From this, you can see which side of the country is having a hard winter and which side is not.

That high-pressure system will fall apart or move at some point. We are just waiting to see when.

It might surprise you to learn that half of Wyoming has experienced a really good winter.

According to the National Weather Service in Riverton, Wyoming, "While the lower elevations east of the Continental Divide have been unseasonably warm and lacking precipitation, snow water content in the western mountains is above normal as of January 11, 2026. Given the warm weather, most of the snow is above the 9,000-foot elevation."

The numbers in the picture above are snowpack percentages compared to average years. The blue is western Wyoming, where you will see far above average snowpack. The Laramie range, on the lower right in purple, is below average.

Earlier this winter, all of the weather was missing us for a slightly different reason. It still had to do with a blocking pattern with high and low pressure.

But that system fell apart and was replaced by that big letter "H."

Below is a recap of what has been causing this weird weather pattern we have been in that fell apart.

Blizzards to the east of us. Heavy snow and rain to our west. So why are Wyoming and other Western states still in this weather block? When will it end?

There has been considerable head-scratching in our region over the mild temperatures, lack of snow, and high winds of the past few weeks. But all of this has happened before. It's nothing new. It doesn't happen often.

Look at the weather map below and notice the high-pressure system sitting right over our area. Now look at the high pressure parked over the Aleutian Islands near Alaska. Look at that other high-pressure system parked over Greenland, to your right.

The positions of those highs and lows are bowing the jet stream around us. It is winter on all sides, but winter is going around us.

We have been stuck in this pattern for over a month, and nothing is expected to change for at least the next week, or maybe two.

Forecasters had called for winter to have arrived by now, but as we can see, and they admit, they were wrong. Even the computer modeling was wrong. Those highs and lows have set up a blocking pattern that was not expected.

At some point, these systems will weaken, and the dam will break, sending winter our way. But it is not known when exactly that is going to happen. Soon, we hope.

Wyoming is right on the edge of the block. That's why the Tetons and Yellowstone have experienced plenty of snow, but it just can't seem to make it to the rest of the state.