I-80 closed across Wyoming.. Massive Pile up..

[Billy_Bob]

This is I-80 at mile marker 266 outside of Cheyenne Wyoming. Blizzard conditions have created a massive pile up of Semi's and cars.

Photo Courtesy of Wy DOT

Links and more as they become available...

 

[Billy_Bob]

"This large scale event will take the Wyoming Highway Patrol hours to investigate and the road will be closed for an indeterminate amount of time,” WYDOT said.

'Large crash involving many vehicles' reported on I-80

For the latest road and travel conditions, visit the Closures and Advisories page on the Wyoming Department of Transportation website. CASPER, Wyo —

oilcity.news

 

[Dekster]

Never been in Wyoming conditions, but one time I drove through a snowstorm in West Virginia that was pretty intense. Only reason I didn't pull over was I couldn't see exactly where the shoulders were. Total white out conditions mostly because of the very strong winds. Very disorienting. As with most dodgy situations, I just followed the semi rear lights in front of me. If they drive over a cliff, I'll be right behind them.

 

[Billy_Bob]

Never been in Wyoming conditions, but one time I drove through a snowstorm in West Virginia that was pretty intense. Only reason I didn't pull over was I couldn't see exactly where the shoulders were. Total white out conditions mostly because of the very strong winds. Very disorienting. As with most dodgy situations, I just followed the semi rear lights in front of me. If they drive over a cliff, I'll be right behind them.

I am sure that was one of the problems here. They simply didn't see the fallout before they were part of it. We have semi's parked for about 30 miles now. DOT is turning them around and sending them back down the wrong way on the interstate to get them off the road and near food/fuel.

 

[JohnDB]

High winds and heavy snow/ice at the same time will drive a Tractor trailer rig right off the road. Which is what must of happened. Because I can see the fence posts in the picture....meaning that the drifts weren't so high they lost the road....sure they likely had poor, poor visibility but just because you can't see the lines don't mean much up there.

The places where the snow gets so high the plows use the red and white poles to find the road....that's a bit more west.

And the other likely contributing factor is the lack of chains on the trucks. Just because they aren't legally mandatory doesn't mean that driving without them is sane.

 

[Billy_Bob]

High winds and heavy snow/ice at the same time will drive a Tractor trailer rig right off the road. Which is what must of happened. Because I can see the fence posts in the picture....meaning that the drifts weren't so high they lost the road....sure they likely had poor, poor visibility but just because you can't see the lines don't mean much up there.

The places where the snow gets so high the plows use the red and white poles to find the road....that's a bit more west.

And the other likely contributing factor is the lack of chains on the trucks. Just because they aren't legally mandatory doesn't mean that driving without them is sane.

When you're in high winds around here, the ground blizzards are so intense that you can't see ten feet in front of you. Those were the conditions at the time of the crash. I'm betting they could barely see the lights on the back of those semis. Lots of factors people just don't think about every day.

 

[Baron Von Murderpaws]

A pile up in Wyoming? Of cows???
LOL

Yeah, I hate those small, two lane highways. Horrible.

If I was the guy that owned that land on the curve in the road, I'd have an exit lane through my property there, and charge $5 per vehicle to go through and around.

 

[Billy_Bob]

A pile up in Wyoming? Of cows???
LOL

Yeah, I hate those small, two lane highways. Horrible.

If I was the guy that owned that land on the curve in the road, I'd have an exit lane through my property there, and charge $5 per vehicle to go through and around.

This was a two lane each direction interstate freeway.. I-80

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

They have barriers along the interstate in Wyoming they lower to close the highway in those conditions to prevent this from happening. I wonder why they didn’t already close them. Maybe it’s only along I-90.

 

[Missourian]

That's not good.

 

[Billy_Bob]

They have barriers along the interstate in Wyoming they lower to close the highway in those conditions to prevent this from happening. I wonder why they didn’t already close them. Maybe it’s only along I-90.

The ground blizzard was not forecast by NOAA/NWS. Good thing I dont work for them...

 

[1srelluc]

Probably some transplant from CA that caused it.

 

[excalibur]

Bullshit! We've been told many years ago by climate experts that snow was a thing of the past.

 

[Dekster]

I am sure that was one of the problems here. They simply didn't see the fallout before they were part of it. We have semi's parked for about 30 miles now. DOT is turning them around and sending them back down the wrong way on the interstate to get them off the road and near food/fuel.

I think people who have never encountered it think it is just like a heavy snow falling. In my case, it was more like a heavy snow blowing up from the ground into the air then zipping left at light speed then right at light speed and sometimes all three at once depending on how swirly it was due to terrain in area. There were very few spots where the snow visually was just falling from sky to ground like one normally experiences.

Anyway, in this case, that it is just out of a curve probably was also a factor.

 

[Baron Von Murderpaws]

This was a two lane each direction interstate freeway.. I-80

Really? From the photo, it looks like only 2 lanes total.

 

[Billy_Bob]

Really? From the photo, it looks like only 2 lanes total.

Two lanes that blossomed to cover all four lanes of travel.

 

[Billy_Bob]

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[wamose]

I went to college in Laramie, just west of the pileup. I know it well. That's somewhere near Vedauvoo, which is near the highest elevation on I80.

 

[Flash]

There is a good reason why I live in Florida instead of Wyoming.

 

[Billy_Bob]

I went to college in Laramie, just west of the pileup. I know it well. That's somewhere near Vedauvoo, which is near the highest elevation on I80.

261 - 266 is the east face of the mountain.