GILLETTE, Wyo. — Gillette’s level-one snow emergency has ended, allowing residents to park their vehicles on snow emergency routes in the aftermath of a storm that blanketed the Gillette area with up to a foot of snow.
According to the National Weather Service in Rapid City, South Dakota, the spring storm brought abundant moisture and strong winds to the area from April 6 to April 8. Winds during the storm topped 50 mph across northeastern Wyoming and southwestern South Dakota.
At the storm’s onset, City Administrator Mike Cole declared a level-one snow emergency, prohibiting residents from parking their vehicles along designated snow emergency routes. The storm did not prompt a level-two snow emergency declaration, which would have discouraged non-emergency travel, according to the City of Gillette.
“Throughout the storm, gusty winds created blowing and drifting snow over a large portion of northeastern Wyoming, which closed roads and made travel difficult,” the NWS in Rapid City says, adding that snow accumulations across Campbell County and the Black Hills amounted to around a foot.
Per the NWS in Rapid City, snow accumulations in the Gillette area ranged from 6 inches reported for the downtown area to 12 inches in other county areas, including Wright.
The heavy, wet snow was very elevation-dependent, with snow accumulation in Spearfish, South Dakota, ranging from an inch to over 8 inches but dissipating further west into Rapid City, which saw trace amounts of snow.
The city’s level-one snow emergency came to an end at 1 p.m. April 8 for the Gillette area, marking the end of a spring snowstorm that comes ahead of a forecast warming trend expected to drive temperatures into the 70s this weekend.
