TUESDAY, May 19, 2026 |
Photo – Trampoline piled with snow – Courtesy Scott Davis
Yesterday’s storms knocked out power to thousands across Carbon County.
Early Sunday morning, residents enrolled in AlertSense, Carbon County’s emergency notification system, were warned about an approaching winter storm. The National Weather Service in Cheyenne estimated the system would deliver five to 10 inches of snow and wind gusts up to 45 miles per hour.
The heavy snow and high winds arrived Sunday evening and lasted well into Monday afternoon, with the heaviest impact in the northern parts of the county.
At 4:50 Monday morning, the Wyoming Department of Transportation closed over 200 miles of Interstate 80. One hour later, at 5:50 a.m., WYDOT shut down Highway 30. And by 6:05, Highway 287, north of Rawlins, was also closed. The Snowy Range Pass remained open until 11:42. Drivers were stranded for hours, some overnight, due to whiteout conditions, drifts, and the continuing power outage that slowed plowing operations.
Monday morning, Rocky Mountain Power reported that 5,460 Rawlins and Sinclair customers were without electricity. Ten Hanna residents were also on the list, and one outage was reported north of Rawlins near Bradley Peak. By yesterday afternoon, power was restored to the majority of Hanna residents.
One thousand eight hundred thirty‑seven Carbon Power and Light customers in Carbon and Albany counties were also affected by the storm. On Monday morning, the utility company reported that 284 Elk Mountain customers were experiencing power outages, likely covering the entire town. By midday, power was restored to all Carbon County customers, although intermittent outages were reported throughout the day.
Yesterday’s strong winds and heavy snow also knocked out electricity to 53 High Plains Power customers in Carbon County, mainly at the Seminoe and Pathfinder reservoirs and Shirley Basin mine sites. Medicine Bow residents reported a community‑wide power loss early in the day, but electricity was restored to the town around 9:30 a.m.
Sheriff Alex Bakken announced on social media that Memorial Hospital of Carbon County was open for anyone needing oxygen or electrical power for a medical device. Sheriff’s deputies and Rawlins police officers offered to arrange transportation to the hospital.
As listeners may be aware, the outages took both Bigfoot99 and Bandit102 off the air. However, the Bigfoot99.com online stream stayed up.
By 10 a.m., Bomgaars in Rawlins was requesting fuel from residents to run its generators and remain open. Meanwhile, schools in Rawlins, Hanna, and Medicine Bow were canceled, with Friday, May 22nd set as the makeup date.
As of last night, the City of Rawlins was still without electricity. Rocky Mountain Power estimated that service would be restored by eight o’clock that evening.
Update: After Rocky Mountain Power’s 8 p.m. timeframe passed, county officials opened the Jeffery Memorial Center to give residents a warm place to wait for power to return. Many Rawlins residents didn’t get electricity back until early Tuesday, with some households still without service well into the morning.
