NWS preparing for storms

We’re still getting the occasional snow here, but they’re certainly not lasting as long or covering the ground for days at a time. Tim Troutman with the National Weather Service office in Riverton said the forecast shows near normal precipitation for the area through the middle part of the month, and temperatures are going to show signs of warming. Getting closer to spring, he said, it looks like there will be slightly above normal temperatures.

Through the end of the weekend, we’re going to be looking at temperatures that are quite a bit warmer, with highs in the 40’s and lows in the mid to upper 20’s. The higher temperatures will continue into the middle of the month, possibly into the lower to mid 50’s, but there will be some cool down periods as well.

Heading into spring, Troutman said temperatures should be normal, but there could be less than normal precipitation, though the three-month forecast shows normal temperatures and near normal precipitation. “It’s going to be, more or less, a normal spring across the area, if there is such a thing.”

May, June and July are looking to warmer and drier, however, as we transition out of the spring wet season. The next month could be a determination, Troutman said, as to how things escalate toward being drier than normal.

This past year, there was quite a bit of flooding that happened in June, Troutman said, and we’re looking at the snowmelt potentially happening a little earlier this year. “That’s something to bear watching,” he said.

The snow water equivalent, which is the amount of moisture deposited that is laying near the surface and at the surface has generally been about 100 to 150 percent of normal. “That’s still quite a bit of moisture sitting there in the higher elevations,” Troutman said, but not nearly as extensive as last year. The NWS will continue to monitor the situation, and there is the potential for snowmelt flooding late this spring or early summer so some increased releases from Boysen Reservoir could happen between May and June.

Bill Gordon, the Hot Springs County Emergency Management coordinator, said he’s not anticipating anything like last year in terms of releases from the reservoir. There’s a lot of water that will come down, Gordon said, but not anything that’s unexpected or can’t be dealt with.

Troutman stressed winter is not over, and to expect some heavy, wet snows from now until the end of April. He explained a lot of that has to do with the timing of the weather system pushing through in the overnight hours when temperatures are colder, setting up the right conditions for some snow.

The amount of moisture we see in the coming months will determine how quickly things dry out around here and how bad of a fire season we could see.

Troutman said NWS across Wyoming is also partnering with Emergency Management and the school systems on a weather safety campaign, encompassing lightning safety. “We are working with the school systems to highlight the fact that Wyoming, since 1950, has been in the top five, per capita population, as far as lightning injuries and fatalities. With that in mind, we want to do what we can to assist school officials to ensure the children are as safe as possible.”

That has led to the lightning sign project, in which schools have lightning safety signs developed by NWS to place at football fields and playgrounds to educate people to the fact that if they can hear thunder and see lightning they’re in the danger zone.

“Our motto is, ‘When thunder roars, go indoors,’” Troutman said.

Emergency Management and NWS have also inspected schools in relation to where students should be moving if a tornado is spotted or a tornado warning is issued, and making safety recommendation to improve tornado safety. The objective, Troutman said, is to mitigate loss of life and property due to severe weather, and doing those things “ensures Hot Springs County and the schools are part of the development of a weather ready nation. It’s our objective at the National Weather Service to do our part to ensure that area residents are as safe as possible from the ravages of severe weather.”

Effective last week, all of the 11 counties that the NWS Riverton office serves have met the criteria and been recognized as being “storm ready.”