Winter Storm Watch Issued for Casper Area
The latest forecast from the National Weather calls for significantly higher snow totals than what was predicted just several hours ago.
Thursday afternoon will bring snow to Natrona County, with heavy snow possible through Friday night, according to a winter storm watch issued Wednesday afternoon.
Six to 12 inches of snow is expected in areas below 6,000 feet, while 12-24 inches is expected on Casper Mountain.
Slushy to snow-packed roads will make travel difficult, while heavy snow will reduce visibility below a quarter mile at times.
The culprit is a low-pressure storm system moving across the Pacific northwest, spreading increasing snow into the west Wednesday night and Thursday.
Snow will spread east of the Continental Divide through Thursday in northern areas before the system strengthens and moves over south-central to southeast Wyoming on Thursday night.
Heavy, convective snow could develop over the Big Horn Mountains as well as Johnson, Fremont and Natrona Counties.
The mountains could get 10-20 inches of snow, with 5-10 inches in the lower elevations. Locally, 12-15 inches of snow could fall in the foothills around Buffalo, Casper and Lander, according to the storm watch.
The system is expected to move south across northern Colorado and eventually into northern New Mexico by Saturday, when the storm will be too far south to have further major impacts in Wyoming.
The winter storm watch will be in effect from Thursday evening through late Friday night.