When the snow arrives

The National Weather Service has predicted slightly warmer temperatures through February this winter along with about an average amount of precipitation for our area, although they still consider the Rockies to be in drought condition.

When the white stuff arrives, the first question is usually about snow removal. When will it start and what roads get cleared first?

Thermopolis and the county have multiple entities that work on keeping our roads clear, starting with keeping Wind River Canyon open and Hwy. 20 North to Worland.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) is in charge of keeping those roads open along with a few others, while the Town of Thermopolis takes care of those inside the town limits and the Hot Springs County crew takes care of county roads.

Its not often the canyon is closed, but it is first priority for WYDOT crews.

The most typical reason for its closure is low visibility, that is, visibility of 300 feet or less. Generally low visibility in the canyon is due to wind and blowing snow, but it may also be closed if the snow depth is too high or there is an accident somewhere along the 13-mile stretch.

Of course, as soon as the first flakes begin to fall, WYDOT starts calling in their crews and they will work 12-hour shifts, sometimes 24-hours a day, to keep the road open. Being first on the priority list means the canyon sees fewer closures than some other roads in Wyoming.

Hwy. 20 North to the Washakie County line and WY 120 to Meeteetsee are both considered second priority with WYDOT.

Other roads on their list include clearing of secondaries like Buffalo Creek, Black Mountain, Grass Creek, Hamilton Dome and Owl Creek.

In town, there are five streets at the top of the priority list, Broadway, Sixth Street, Hospital Hill, Airport Hill and 14th Street. Those streets are taken care of as soon as the snow starts, but once crews get ahead, they start on downtown, Springview, Arapahoe, Amoretti, Cedar Ridge and Mountainview.

All but downtown and Springview are hills in the second wave. The hills are treated with an “ice slicer” compound as are the corners on Sixth Street near McDonalds and the corner on the opposite end of the street near Dairy Land.

Once those streets are in pretty good shape the Town starts on the rest, finishing up with loading the snow from the streets and dumping it near the Armory to allow it to melt.