A Frigid Reminder: Winter’s wrath buries town in blanket of snow

Pat Fulton photos
A Glenrock resident clears snow from the sidewalk in front of the Bronco Building Tuesday morning. The recent blizzard began Sunday night into Tuesday morning and dropped a foot of snow on the town.

By: 
Cinthia Stimson cinthia@glenrockind.com

 

When the going gets tough – or the snow accumulation reaches a foot or deeper – there’s always good people in Glenrock who are ready to help out their neighbors when a winter blizzard effectively shuts down the town for 24 hours.
Monday and Tuesday of this week, residents were plowing out each others’ driveways, shoveling each other’s walkways and sidewalks and checking on each other to make sure everyone was safe and sound during the biggest snowstorm Glenrock’s seen since Thanksgiving.
One such resident – Thomas Scherman, was working out on North Monkey Road Monday when he plowed out a couple of driveways of people he knew.
Folks thanked him in public posts on social media for his kindness and some even asked him what they owed him for his services.
“Nothin’, I was just passing by,” Scherman replied.
Later, he confirmed he was working but his acts of kindness weren’t really that big of a deal.
“I think a bit of misinterpretation came across, I had a job to do out yonder and was passing by two folks’ houses I know, and swiped their drive real quick. I wasn’t running around town helpin’ folks,” he said.
But, he was helping. Folks were appreciative of his efforts, even if he appeared to be quite humble about it when contacted about his kind actions Tuesday.
The snowstorm came in late Sunday night with a bang, but the biggest turn of events came earlier that day.
Sunday was sunny, gorgeous and felt like springtime with a high near 58 degrees. As the daylight started to dip behind the horizon, the temperature dropped dramatically, dipping all the way down to 26 degrees. That night the snow started falling and the wind started blowing, and didn’t let up for 24 hours.
It was enough snow that Glenrock effectively shut down Monday.
The National Weather Service  (NWS) reported 8 inches of snow fell on Glenrock between Sunday night and Tuesday morning, but locals reported up to a foot in and around the town. The neighboring community of Rolling Hills reported receiving a whopping 14 inches of snow Sunday night through  Tuesday morning.
The Glenrock School District closed Monday and Tuesday, but reopened Wednesday morning according to Glenrock School District Superintendent Coley Shadrick.
The public library, senior center, health center and other businesses were closed Monday or Tuesday (some businesses were closed both days).
Town Hall was closed on Monday, although essential services such as the police department, public works, fire department and emergency services were in place. Tuesday it was back to business as usual.
“We are open today,” town clerk Tammy Taylor confirmed Tuesday via email. “All essential personnel worked yesterday, (the) police department of course, and public works was out plowing all day,” she said.
The majority of Wyoming roads and highways were closed Monday, including I-25 between Douglas and Buffalo, according to WYDOT.
The section between Douglas and Casper opened up around 9 a.m. Tuesday, with the rest of the interstate open all the way to Buffalo later that day despite wet roads and slick spots.
Mother Nature isn’t done with Wyomingites yet, though.
NWS Meteorologist Rob Cox cautioned area residents to be prepared for another snowstorm coming up late this week into Friday.
“At this point in time it looks like one of those systems that’s coming in waves in a northwestern pattern. Those patterns remain active – we get disturbance after disturbance – one after another. That’s what we expect to see Wednesday, Thursday and then coming in on Friday. We have several more days of snow ahead of us,” he predicted.
He said the upcoming location-based bands across Wyoming will bring additional snowfall, up to  7 inches.
“Right now we want to let people know to keep an eye on the weather reports, keep updated on the forecast and make plans accordingly. We’re on Facebook and Twitter and keep those updated 3-4 times a day. Those are good places to keep abreast of the amount of wind and snow headed our way, and where the highest impacts in the state are going to be,” he said.
Residents need to also be cautious of the wind chill factor which is estimated to reach 20 below zero during the next few days, according to NWS’s website.
 

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Glenrock Independent

Physical Address:506 W. Birch, Glenrock, WY 82637 Mailing Address: PO Box 109, Douglas, WY 82633 Phone: (307) 436-2211

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