DROUGHT INDEXT: Wyoming Needs a Wet Spring

It has been a rare winter for Wyoming and other Western states. Not unheard of, but rare. As we have reported over the past few months, winter has been going around us. Everywhere else has been hammered by cold and snow.

That has left states like Wyoming a little on the dry side. But hold on, relief might be on the way.

First, let's take a look at the current drought conditions in our region according to the US DROUGHT MONITOR

That looks concerning as we move toward spring.

But what is often forgotten is that, according to meteorologists, December and January are the driest months of the year for Wyoming. We get most of our moisture in the spring.

There is no such thing as we are supposed to get a certain amount of snow every year. Some years we get too much snow, some years we get too little, some years are in between. There is no such thing as "supposed to be" when it comes to weather. There are always changes and fluctuations from year to year, decade to decade, and even longer trends.

The weather pattern that has been bringing winter around is slowly breaking. Expect more snow in the high elevations and rain in the lowlands in the coming days. That's a good start.

Right now, states like California are getting pummeled by rain and snow. We could use some of that. But most of it is still going around us. We need just a little more of a shift to bring in that last-minute snow and rain before the wet season ends.

Let's go back and review why winter went around us.
Look at that high-pressure system in the National Weather Service image below. That is the culprit.

That high pressure bows the weather around us and down into the eastern side of the US. That's why they are getting nailed by winter weather this year, and not us.

We just needed that high-pressure system to move a little west. That's all.

Below we see the warmer weather in red and the cold winter weather in greens, blues, and purples. From this, you can see which side of the country was having a hard winter and which side was not.

That high-pressure system will fall apart or move at some point. We are just waiting to see when.

It might surprise you to learn that half of Wyoming has experienced a really good winter.

According to the National Weather Service in Riverton, Wyoming, "While the lower elevations east of the Continental Divide have been unseasonably warm and lacking precipitation, snow water content in the western mountains is above normal as of January 11, 2026. Given the warm weather, most of the snow is above the 9,000-foot elevation."

The numbers in the picture above are snowpack percentages compared to average years. The blue is western Wyoming, where you will see far above average snowpack. The Laramie range, on the lower right in purple, is below average.

Earlier this winter, all of the weather was missing us for a slightly different reason. It still had to do with a blocking pattern with high and low pressure.

But that system fell apart and was replaced by that big letter "H."

Below is a recap of what was causing this weird weather pattern we have been in that fell apart.

Blizzards to the east of us. Heavy snow and rain to our west. So why are Wyoming and other Western states still in this weather block? When will it end?

There has been considerable head-scratching in our region over the mild temperatures, lack of snow, and high winds of the past few weeks. But all of this has happened before. It's nothing new. It doesn't happen often.

Look at the weather map below and notice the high-pressure system sitting right over our area. Now look at the high pressure parked over the Aleutian Islands near Alaska. Look at that other high-pressure system parked over Greenland, to your right.

Forecasters had called for winter to have arrived by now, but as we can see, and they admit, they were wrong. Even the computer modeling was wrong. Those highs and lows have set up a blocking pattern that was not expected.

Wyoming is right on the edge of the block. That's why the Tetons and Yellowstone have experienced plenty of snow, but it just can't seem to make it to the rest of the state.