Both in the movie business and the book business, there is
the concept of “false ending,” where you as the viewer or reader think the
story is over. Not so. Later the ultimate ending arrives. Just about every
movie or book uses this device.
This also
applies to Wyoming’s weather during this time of year.
As part of our
recent travels during this wet and crazy spring, I heard an expression by an
Omaha TV weather reporter, who kept referring to their all-time record cold
weather as coming after they had had a “false” spring.
I like that
term for spring. My favorite way to describe
Wyoming’s four seasons is: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter and
Construction.
Lander Mayor
Del McOmie shared a funny weather description that he found on the Wyoming
Going Blue Facebook page, which is all about law enforcement in the state.
It included 12
seasons included one really cool season they called “sprinter,” which pretty
much covers right now. Here is their
list of the 12 seasons:
1.
Winter
2.
Arctic Freeze
3.
Second winter
4.
Spring of Deception
5.
Semi Truck tipping season
6.
Sprinter
7.
Actual spring (lasts two weeks)
8.
Construction season
9.
Torrential downpour
10.
Cheyenne Frontier Days - hail season
11.
Summer
12.
Pre-Winter - Fall Snow
We had
scheduled an extended motorhome trip crossing the south from Las Vegas to
Flagstaff to Albuquerque to Santa Fe to Oklahoma City to Dallas and then north
to western Iowa. The trip worked out well and we saw many relatives and
friends. But this year’s wacky weather was not limited just to Wyoming.
Flagstaff had blizzards. Dallas had hail
and near freezing temps. Golf ball-sized hailstones pummeled the car I tow
behind our RV.
We timed the
trip to end up in Iowa, figuring they would have a normal spring. No so.
Temperatures were all time lows with snow and hail. We finally got out
of there on the one nice day and made it to Cheyenne. It was a long pull but
worth it.
So there we
were, stranded in Cheyenne, spending the night in our motorhome at the Terry
Bison Ranch RV Park. We were trying to get home to Lander but the weather was
typical Wyoming Spring – here came the winds!
Three semi trucks and a camper were
on their sides just south of Cheyenne as the winds roared 75 mph for a direct
hit on high profile vehicles on Interstate 25. Some reports said 88 mph gusts
were blowing over these rigs on Wyoming Hill. More than a dozen rigs were over
tuned statewide.
We desperately wanted to get home
but not on Tuesday, April 17.
Now there are
two ways to get our home from Cheyenne. The shortest route is Interstate 80
through Laramie, Rawlins and Jeffrey City.
A slightly longer way (45 minutes longer) is north from Cheyenne to Wheatland,
Douglas, Casper and Riverton then home.
So, here I sat in front of my laptop on a spectacular Tuesday morning
(April 17) checking roads and forecasts.
You just cannot make this stuff up.
Blizzards and
rainstorms are issues when driving a 13-foot high motorhome, but crosswinds are
the biggest hazard. It is just too dangerous.
We are at a time in our lives where we would rather wait a day than “have to”
get home. Here is what I found:
Snow was predicted in Casper,
Riverton and Lander. Crosswinds of 50
mph were forecast for Wheatland. The
moisture was coming out of the north as Worland and Powell and the rest of the
Big Horn Basin were going to get wet with rain and snow.
Thus, the Interstate 25 route was
not going to work on this day.
So what about the Snow Chi Minh
Trail on Interstate 80? The TV stations had blocked out all of SE Wyoming as
“dangerous high winds.” With no “high
profile” traffic recommended. This meant that Cheyenne to Rawlins was unsafe for
me, anyway, and that area north of Rawlins often features terrible cross winds.
I really like the Wyoming
Department of Transportation weather forecast maps, which showed most roads
“green” on this day, which would normally be welcomed. But not when driving a
vehicle that is quite susceptible to toppling over.
Cheyenne to Laramie looked okay but
Laramie to Rawlins was the typical Snow Chi Minh Trail forecast: high winds and
blowing snow.
As a result, we stayed another
night in our favorite capital city before getting home.
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