TORRINGTON – The National Weather Service in Cheyenne is forecasting a shot of snow and extremely cold air for Torrington and all of Goshen County Wednesday into Thursday.
A winter storm watch is in effect from Wednesday morning, beginning at 8 a.m., through Thursday morning.
After dealing with high winds all day Tuesday, Cheyenne meteorologist Tim Trudel said an arctic front will pass over the area Wednesday morning, quickly dropping temperatures and accumulating snowfall.
“Those wind will die off (Tuesday evening), and by the time you enter (Wednesday) morning, you’ll start seeing evidence of the cold air pushing in,” Trudel said. “It will be one of those cases where the temperatures (Tuesday night) will be warmer than they will be after sunrise.”
Temperatures are expected to drop into the teens quickly Wednesday morning between 7 a.m. and noon. Then drop into the single digits in the afternoon, Trudel explained.
“As that happens, snow will develop from West to East in the morning,” he added. “My guess is 5-9 a.m. It might be moderate to heavy at times through the day into (Wednesday) evening.”
Winds will be gusty out of the north as the front moves through before dying off in the evening hours.
“We aren’t looking at a blowing snow threat,” Trudel said. “It will be more like a drifting snow initially along the area roadways.”
The Cheyenne National Weather Service office is forecasting 4-8 inches for Goshen County.
Behind the snow, the arctic front will escort in extremely cold air. Forecasted lows for the area Wednesday evening into Thursday are expected to drop between -10 to -15 with wind chills in the -20 to -30 range.
“In this type of pattern, it’s best to have, what I like to call my arctic gear, my heavy jackets, heavy gloves, hats that cover most of the face, head and ears if you are going to be out for prolonged periods of time,” Trudel said.
He also noted there will be a quick warming trend behind the storm heading into the weekend with temperatures back into the 40s by Friday.
“It’ll be a quick shot of arctic air, which tends to be how it is around here,” Trudel said. “It doesn’t sit around for too long.”
