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Snow, wind hamper travel

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By The Associated Press

Tuesday, January 29, 2008 9:58 AM MST

CHEYENNE -- Snow and strong winds are hampering travel in southern Wyoming today, while avalanche warnings have been posted for the extreme western part of the state.

Sections of Interstate 80 were closed in the Evanston, Cheyenne, Rock Springs, Laramie, Rawlins, Elk Mountain and Arlington areas because of snow and wind-driven ground blizzards.

Winds gusting up to 70 mph buffeted parts of southern Wyoming this morning.

The National Weather Service posted a blizzard warning for the Snowy Range area in southern Wyoming, including the community of Centennial.

On Monday, heavy snow and wind gusts up to 80 mph plagued the western mountains, shutting down skiing in Jackson Hole and closing highways.

Avalanche warnings were posted for the extreme western mountains, including the Jackson and Afton areas.

Wyoming Highway 22 over Teton Pass was closed most of Monday because of an avalanche that may have been triggered by a snowboarder. The slide covered the roadway with a 120-foot-long swath of debris about 6 feet deep, said Jamie Yount, the avalanche adviser for the Wyoming Department of Transportation.

The avalanche partially buried a car coming from Idaho, but no one was injured.

The wind and blowing snow also shut down Jackson Hole Airport. Planes did not take off Sunday evening or all day Monday, said Ray Bishop, the airport director.

Bishop said one American Airlines flight did land at the airport at 1 p.m. on Monday.


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Comments to this story.

patrick wrote on Jan 29, 2008 4:29 PM:

" why is the westbound i-80 closed from cheyenne to laramie while the eastbound is open? "

Jason R wrote on Jan 29, 2008 4:39 PM:

" When I-80 is closed in the Southwestern part of the state (or portions as you described) it is most often attributed to wind gusts. "

Jim wrote on Jan 29, 2008 9:08 PM:

" In Evanston, I-80 westbound was open and east bound was closed. They opened it for a while and then closed it again. "

Paula wrote on Jan 30, 2008 5:44 AM:

" I've never seen I-80 closed for such a long time and the road is not that bad.... this isn't making sense. For Wyoming natives, local traffic mustn't be hampered so. We're used to this! "

Danni wrote on Jan 30, 2008 7:25 AM:

" The reason that I-80 westboud out of Cheyenne is closed and easboud out of Rock Springs is to keep traffic from piling up in Laramie or Rawlins. When the town gets full - they back up the road closure to the next town. This also keeps the traffic from being too congested when the road does open. "

trvLr wrote on Jan 30, 2008 8:45 PM:

" Just because there are blue skies where you are doesn't mean there isn't horrible weather further down the road. If WYDOT closes a road it is for good reason and for your safety. In this case, there were huge drifts around Rawlins and extremely high winds which not only hampered efforts to clear the roads but also created situations where visibility could only be measured in mere feet. In addition, see Danni's comments, she is right on the money. "

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