Storm Brings Up To 2 Inches Of Water, But Not Close To Busting Wyoming’s Drought

Parts of Wyoming got up to 2 inches of water from this week’s storm that shut down Interstate 80 and left Rawlins without power for more than a day. But it wasn’t a drought-buster. “Getting rid of a drought is like eating an elephant—one bite at a time,” said Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day. “These storms have taken nice chunks out of it, but there’s a long way to go.”

Precipitation totals from the spring snowstorm are still being compiled, but the numbers are impressive. Many places saw several inches of snow, with heavy, wet snow translating to more than an inch of liquid water. “Some parts of southern Wyoming have already reached their average for the month of May, and maybe even gone above that,” Day said. “Some areas of the Snowy Range got up to 30 inches.”

Meteorologist Mike Natoli with the NWS office in Cheyenne estimated that Rawlins received between 1 and 2 inches of liquid water based on 8 to 16 inches of snow. Cheyenne got 0.85 inches of liquid water from the storm, adding to 1.10 inches from a winter storm in early May—a water windfall for southeast Wyoming. Laramie received between 0.5 and 0.75 inches, and Casper got 0.73 inches. “The south and south-central parts of the state received the most moisture from this system,” Natoli said. “It’ll temporarily reduce the fire danger and, most notably, it will prevent the drought from getting worse.”

But moving from exceptional to extreme drought is an improvement, not a solution. Two solid storms aren’t enough to reverse a drought fueled by the warmest, and one of the driest, winters on record. “Many locations haven’t benefitted from these storms,” Day said. “Platte, Goshen, Niobrara, Converse, and Campbell counties need a good soaker, but they haven’t had a good moisture situation in a while.” Natoli said the last two weeks have been “a drop in the bucket” for Wyoming’s drought deficit, noting that mountain snowmelt—a major water supply source—has already been lost after warm temperatures in March. “That’s why we’re probably not going to completely eliminate the drought this year,” he said.

Tony Bergantino, director of the Water Resources Data System and the Wyoming State Climate Office, said May’s moisture has been a definite improvement. As of May 19, most of Wyoming is experiencing either severe or extreme drought, but the area of exceptional drought in far southern Carbon and southeast Sweetwater counties has been eliminated. “It is good to be completely free of D4 in Wyoming again,” Bergantino said.

The extended forecast offers hope. “The weather pattern we have coming up is definitely the best that we’ve seen in the last six months across the state,” Natoli said. “It’s not going to totally end the drought, but we’re liking what we’re seeing in the next couple of weeks.” Another system is expected to bring widespread rain and mountain snow through Friday. Multiple storms dropping up to an inch of water at a time could “go a long way” to reduce drought severity. Day also sees promising signs but remains cautious. “If we were going to put some big dents in the drought, we have areas these storms missed that need a lot more moisture,” he said. “This is what we want, but we need more.”