Snow Day Predictor for Wyoming

Browse snow day predictions for all 22 cities in Wyoming. Select your city to check tomorrow's school closure forecast.

Every city below links to its own live snow day forecast for Wyoming. Find your city in the alphabetical list and click it to check today's snowfall probability and school closure forecast.

About Wyoming

Wyoming became the 44th state on July 10, 1890, the last of the old frontier territories to join the union. It remains the least populous state in the country, with roughly 588,000 residents spread across nearly 97,100 square miles of high plains and mountains. Elevation swings hard here, from around 3,100 feet on the eastern prairie to 13,804 feet atop Gannett Peak. Energy pays Wyoming's bills. Campbell County's coal mines helped push the state to 41 percent of total U.S. coal production in 2022, according to the Energy Information Administration, and oil, gas, and trona round out the rest. Tourism dominates the west, where Yellowstone and Grand Teton pull in millions of visitors each summer, and ski towns like Jackson pull them right back in January and February. Winter here isn't about deep snow so much as it's about wind. Statewide gusts above 60 mph are routine from November through April, and a ground blizzard can turn a clear, snow-free morning into a zero-visibility whiteout in minutes. Rural school districts often cover thousands of square miles, and a single icy stretch of county road is reason enough to keep the buses parked.

Wyoming Snow Day Climate and School Closures

How Wyoming's Climate Affects Snow Days

Wyoming winters run cold and dry, but wind, not snowfall, drives most closures. The Laramie-Cheyenne-Elk Mountain stretch of I-80, one of the windiest interstate corridors in the country, regularly sees gusts past 60 mph. Eastern plains stay comparatively snow-light; the Tetons catch real mountain snow, with Jackson Hole averaging 458 inches a year.

A ground blizzard shut I-80 near Elk Mountain in Carbon County on January 27-29, 2023, during one of Wyoming's wettest winters, per NWS Cheyenne; a 44-vehicle pileup killed one person, per Wyoming Highway Patrol. (National Weather Service - Cheyenne, WY (2022-23 Historic Winter Season, Rawlins/Carbon County))

What Causes School Closures in Wyoming

Wind, not snow totals, closes Wyoming schools. Ground blizzards reduce visibility to zero on I-80 and rural highways even without fresh snowfall, simply by lofting what's already on the ground. Add a population density under six people per square mile and bus routes spanning vast rural distances, and superintendents call it early.

Explore Snow Day Predictions Across Wyoming

Wyoming has 22 cities covered by the Snow Day Predictor. Predictions are updated hourly using real-time weather data from Open-Meteo.

Popular Cities to Check in Wyoming

Cheyenne. Cheyenne ranks among America's windiest cities, averaging 12.9 mph year-round, per NWS Cheyenne. At 6,086 feet, the capital sees frequent high wind warnings that close I-25 and I-80 approaches alike.

Casper. Casper is Wyoming's second-largest city, with 59,038 residents at the 2020 census, sitting at 5,120 feet along the North Platte River. Wind funneling off Casper Mountain routinely forces winter closures on the highways ringing town.

Laramie. Home to the University of Wyoming since 1886, Laramie sits at 7,165 feet, among the highest-elevation U.S. cities its size. I-80 runs through town, where ground blizzards close the interstate without a flake of snow.

Jackson. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort averages 458 inches of snow a year with a 4,139-foot vertical drop, among the deepest snowpacks in the Rockies. The town of Jackson itself recorded 56 inches of snow in January 1969 alone.

Gillette. Gillette anchors Campbell County, source of the bulk of Wyoming's 41 percent share of all U.S. coal mined in 2022, per the EIA. Heavy mine-haul traffic keeps county crews plowing blowing snow nonstop each winter.

Rawlins. Rawlins sits at 6,834 feet along I-80's Elk Mountain corridor, near the January 2023 ground blizzard that produced a 44-vehicle pileup and one fatality. The Carbon County seat averages 54 inches of snow a year.

Frequently Asked Questions About Snow Days in Wyoming

Why do Wyoming schools close for wind instead of snow?

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Because wind is the real hazard here, not accumulation. A ground blizzard can pick up snow that already fell days ago and throw it sideways across I-80 or a county highway, cutting visibility to zero in minutes. NWS Cheyenne and NWS Riverton track these events separately from normal snowstorms, and districts along the wind-prone corridor between Cheyenne, Laramie, and Elk Mountain watch wind advisories as closely as forecasted snowfall.

How much snow does Jackson Hole actually get compared to eastern Wyoming?

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A lot more, and it's not close. Nearby Teton Pass, the WYO 22 route into Jackson from Idaho, closes repeatedly each winter for avalanche control, with slides that have buried the highway under dozens of feet of debris in bad years. Eastern towns like Cheyenne and Gillette see far less snow, even with far more wind. Elevation and orographic lift explain the gap, not latitude.

What makes I-80 through Wyoming so dangerous in winter?

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The stretch between Laramie and Elk Mountain is one of the windiest sections of interstate in the country, and WYDOT closes sections of it regularly through the winter. Gusts over 60 mph show up even under blue skies, and a ground blizzard can drop visibility to near zero in seconds. The January 2023 pileup near Elk Mountain, involving 44 vehicles, shows exactly what that combination can do.

How does Wyoming's low population density affect school closure decisions?

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Hugely. With just under six people per square mile statewide, Wyoming's rural districts often bus kids across county-sized attendance zones on two-lane roads that see minimal traffic and, sometimes, minimal plowing. A single drift-covered stretch outside town can strand a bus for hours, so superintendents in small districts tend to call closures earlier and more conservatively than their counterparts in denser states.

Which NWS office should I follow for Wyoming winter storm warnings?

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It depends where you are. NWS Cheyenne covers the southeast corner and the I-80 corridor through Laramie, NWS Riverton handles western and central Wyoming including Casper and Jackson, and NWS Rapid City issues forecasts for Gillette and Campbell County in the northeast. Wyoming's size means one storm can trigger warnings from all three offices at once, so check the one nearest your route, not just your town.

Does Wyoming get less snow overall than states like Colorado or Utah?

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In most valley towns, yes, Wyoming's high plains are relatively dry, and places like Cheyenne and Casper log modest yearly totals compared with Denver or Salt Lake City. But the mountain exception is real: Jackson Hole's 458-inch average rivals or beats most Colorado resorts, and the Wind River and Bighorn ranges hold snowpack into summer. Statewide averages hide just how split Wyoming's snow climate actually is.