Motorists Stuck On I-80 Overnight As Snowstorm Shuts Down Southern Wyoming
Southern Wyoming was shut down by blizzard circumstances and a big energy outage in Carbon County on Monday that stranded motorists on Interstate 80 for hours — and a few in a single day.
More than 200 miles of Interstate 80 had been closed for a lot of the day due to winter circumstances. As a lot as 10 inches of snow was reported in some locations alongside the freeway, and the Wyoming Department of Transportation was clearing 4-foot drifts by midday.
“I’ve had reports of 30 inches of snow in Snowy Range,” stated Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day.
Meanwhile, the extreme winter climate broken an influence transmission line in Carbon County round 2 am that left Rawlins, Sinclair, and Wamsutter with out energy for a lot of the day.
The outage additionally hampered WYDOT’s efforts to clear I-80.
“They couldn’t fuel up in Rawlins because the power was out,” Bar Nunn resident Jodi Burrer advised Cowboy State Daily. “They had to get the plows to Sinclair to fill up.”
Covered In Chaos
Rawlins resident Marianne Nelson often has a 10-minute commute to her job on the Wyoming State Penitentiary and hopped onto I-80 at 5:15 am By 11 am Monday, she had been caught for practically six hours.
“I’ve got three semitrucks parked in front of me,” she stated. “I guess there’s a tow truck somewhere, but he’s stuck, too. I can’t see anything, and I only have a quarter of a tank of gas.”
Both the westbound and eastbound lanes of I-80 between Rock Springs and Cheyenne had been closed to all by site visitors by 10:46 am Monday.
Wet, heavy snow was falling, shortly making the pavement slick with slush, whereas wind gusts as much as 45 mph precipitated whiteout circumstances that pressured drivers to cease and pull over the place they may.
“We have heard anecdotally of vehicles stuck between Laramie and Rock Springs, but don’t have any hard numbers,” Jordan Young, WYDOT’s deputy public affairs officer, advised Cowboy State Daily on Monday afternoon. “Plowing drifts from stuck and stopped vehicles can delay reopening the highway.”
Young additionally confirmed {that a} WYDOT snowplow had been struck, presumably by a semitruck, whereas it was clearing I-80 close to the Wagonhound Rest Area between Arlington and Elk Mountain.
“We are still getting specific details on the crash from the Wyoming Highway Patrol,” she said.
As of publication time Monday evening, the estimated reopening time for the westbound and eastbound lanes of I-80 was between Rawlins and Laramie was between 6 and 8 am Tuesday.
Other crashes were reported by eyewitnesses, including one that involved a Wyoming Highway Patrol vehicle that had been put on a “flatbed.” Cowboy State Daily hasn’t confirmed particulars about any of those incidents.
Both lanes between Rawlins and Rock Springs were anticipated to reopen by midnight Tuesday.
Although Cheyenne had no significant snowfall on Monday, Interstate 80 westbound was put on a rolling closure so as not to overwhelm towns where snowfall had made highway passage impossible.
That meant hundreds of truckers were stranded, including Cam Geurgen, a driver from Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Geurgen said he could move to Laramie County if it wasn’t for the weather.
“Truckers know your sheriff here,” Geurgen said, incorrectly identifying Brian Kozak as “Bennie Lozak.”
Geurgen stated he is heard about Kozak’s “Truck Around And Find Out” initiative on the internet and on talk radio.
“He gets rid of the illegal drivers and it is the best in the country at it,” he stated.
Power Out
Meanwhile, the winter climate precipitated a big energy outrage in Carbon County.
John Whitesides with Rocky Mountain Power stated the outage was brought on by a damaged crossarm midway between the Platte and Whiskey Peak substations. The harm occurred within the early morning hours Monday, with the primary report coming from Rawlins at 2:27 am
“We have one transmission line that feeds those communities,” Whitesides stated. “When we have a damaged line, there’s no power coming into homes and businesses.”
Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken arrange an incident command submit to maintain individuals knowledgeable whereas Carbon County faculties and companies shut down for the day.
He knowledgeable residents that Carbon County Search and Rescue had been mobilized to supply emergency transportation for anybody in want of oxygen companies to Memorial Hospital of Carbon County in Rawlins, which remained open in the course of the incident.
Amidst energy outages and caught drivers, Bakken had one other surprising disaster to cope with.
“Verizon is currently experiencing issues with outgoing calls from our communications center,” he stated. “We are receiving all incoming calls without issues, but outgoing calls to Verizon numbers are not going through.”
Bakken famous that each one different service suppliers, like AT&T and T-Mobile, weren’t experiencing these points.
Whitesides stated the trouble to revive energy was hampered by the climate and closed roads that Rocky Mountain Power’s crews wanted to achieve the broken line.
They coordinated with the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office to clear these roads and reached the affected space as quickly as doable.
“They started restoration work at 3 pm Monday,” Whitesides stated. “The estimated restoration time was before 6 pm for Sinclair and before 7:30 pm for Rawlins.”
Overnight Issues
Trucker Zade Cyr had been caught on the eastbound lane of I-80, someplace between Wamsutter and Rawlins, for nearly 11 hours when site visitors lastly began shifting once more.
“I figured I was going to be here until tomorrow morning,” he stated.
Many individuals caught on I-80 all day had been anticipating to spend your entire night time caught there, too.
By 5:30 p.m., each lanes between Rock Springs and Laramie had been nonetheless closed, and the remaining growth, east to Cheyenne and west to Evanston, was positioned underneath a rolling closure till a minimum of 10 p.m.
By Monday afternoon, the National Weather Service had issued a blizzard warning for the Arlington space, calling for one more 2 to six inches of snow. The remainder of southeastern Wyoming was underneath a Winter Weather Warning for your entire day.
Then, the NWS issued a Freeze Warning for south-central Wyoming between 9 pm Monday and 10 am Tuesday. Overnight temperatures as little as 20 levels had been anticipated throughout a lot of the realm impacted by that day’s winter climate.
“Near-record low temperatures between 12 to 28 degrees can be expected in the warning area,” reported the NWS workplace in Cheyenne. “Freeze watches are in effect for Tuesday night for zones east of the Laramie Range and includes most of Converse County. These later freeze watches run through 10 am Wednesday morning.”
That’s more likely to influence site visitors going into Tuesday and the remainder of the week.
Young stated one of the best ways for drivers to remain knowledgeable on present street circumstances was to proceed checking the Wyoming 511 web site and app.
“We update that 24/7,” she stated “Some sections (of I-80) have different reopening times based on a variety of factors, including wind, drifting, visibility and more. We try to get folks moving whenever we can.”
Andrew Rossi will be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.