No cold freeze expected

Lovell weather is expected to continue to be mild in the coming week, with above average temperatures to continue the rest of the winter.
Lance VandenBoogart, Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s Riverton office, said that local temperatures are projected to be slightly above average February through April.
“There is a slight lean toward above normal temperatures for the Big Horn basin.” VandenBoogart said. “If we look at precipitation there’s equal chances for above or below normal so [for long term forecasting] climatology is going to be your best forecast, which means 30-year average of how much precipitation you get during that February, March, April timeframe.”
Although it has been an El Niño  winter, which has resulted in warmer than average global temperatures this winter season, VandenBoogart said one can’t say if a daily or weekly trend in warmer weather in the Big Horn Basin is directly due to El Niño, because there are many factors at play.
Weather is predicted to be similar throughout the Big Horn Basin the next week, he said. Highs are predicted to be above freezing through the weekend with lows in the 20s. There is a chance of precipitation Thursday and Friday.
“The day-to-day forecast outside of Lovell, that might vary by a couple of degrees, but I kind of gave a rough range that would apply to all communities,” he said. “They’re located in a similar location in the northern Big Horn Basin there. You know, if you had a community up on the top of the Big Horn Mountains, that’s going to be a lot colder. A lot more snow has different precipitation and that sort of thing. But the communities you mentioned, they’re fairly close together in the same basin.”
Within a two-hour drive, there are not any notable differences in weather forecasted, except for the mountains being colder and snowier, he said, but the mountains will still be trending toward their normal weather patterns.
In Wyoming, the Jackson and Star Valley areas are experiencing a different weather pattern, he said. Those areas of Wyoming have been in a fairly wet period with multiple rounds of light snow showers in the valley and moderate precipitation in the mountains.