Wyoming
Wyoming is one of the windiest states in the nation. Blizzards close I-80 and I-25 with regularity. Wildfires burn the mountain forests. The Yellowstone flood of 2022 was historically unprecedented. And help, in much of this state, is measured in hours, not minutes.
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Know your region
Cheyenne, Laramie, Rawlins, Rock Springs. The I-80 corridor is one of the windiest highways in America. Blizzards with 60 mph sustained winds close the interstate regularly. The Medicine Bow National Forest burns during dry summers. Grassland fires spread at highway speed.
Primary hazards: blizzards, extreme wind, wildfire, severe storms
Jackson, Cody, the Yellowstone corridor, the Teton Range. The June 2022 Yellowstone flood was unprecedented, washing away roads and homes. The Teton Fault can produce a M7.5 earthquake. Thousands of small earthquakes occur annually near Yellowstone.
Primary hazards: flooding, earthquakes, wildfire, winter storms
Sheridan, Gillette, Powell, Thermopolis, the Bighorn Mountains. Heavy snow in the Bighorns. Grassland fire across the Powder River Basin. Summer severe storms with large hail. The Bighorn Basin can be bitterly cold and cut off during winter.
Primary hazards: winter storms, wildfire, severe storms, drought
Your hazard profile
Each links to a full guide with during-event protocol, recovery steps, and resources specific to WY.
The 2020 Mullen Fire burned 175,000 acres. Mountain forests and rangeland both burn. Smoke degrades air quality. Rural communities face limited firefighting resources and narrow evacuation routes.
Read the wildfires guide →
Wyoming is one of the windiest states. Blizzards with 60 mph sustained winds close I-80 and I-25 regularly. Wind chill below minus 40. Snow can fall any month at higher elevations.
Read the blizzards and extreme wind guide →
Summer storms produce large hail, damaging winds, and dangerous lightning. Eastern plains tornadoes occur. Lightning-caused wildfires are a significant concern.
Read the severe thunderstorms guide →
The 2022 Yellowstone flood was historically unprecedented. Spring snowmelt causes river flooding. Flash floods in mountain canyons develop during summer storms.
Read the flooding guide →
Yellowstone experiences thousands of small earthquakes annually. The Teton Fault can produce a M7.5. The 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake killed 28 just across the Montana border.
Read the earthquakes guide →
Wyoming resources
Wyoming Office of Homeland Security. Coordinates disaster response and manages the state's emergency programs.
Wyoming wildfire information. Active fires, smoke forecasts, fire restrictions, and evacuation notices.
Central Wyoming forecasts. Blizzard warnings, fire weather alerts, and flood advisories.
Real-time road conditions, I-80 and I-25 closures, chain requirements, and wind advisories. Check before every drive.
June 2022
In June 2022, a combination of rapid snowmelt and heavy rain sent the Yellowstone River to levels never recorded. Roads dissolved. Bridges washed away. Homes slid into the river. Yellowstone National Park closed entirely, the first full closure in over 30 years. The town of Gardiner was cut off. Rescue helicopters evacuated stranded residents.
Hydrologists called it unprecedented. Not casually. Literally. The flood exceeded every recorded level in over a century of monitoring. The infrastructure along the river, roads, bridges, and utilities, was designed for a different river than the one that showed up.
For Wyoming households near mountain rivers, the Yellowstone flood rewrote the assumptions. "Historic flood level" is a backward-looking number. The river does not read the charts. If you live along a mountain river, monitor spring runoff forecasts, have an evacuation plan, and understand that the unprecedented is now a possibility, not an abstraction.