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Did 'historic wind event' leave massive snow bank on Wyoming's Devils Tower?

Taija PerryCook snopes

"It's a good way to educate people on reading stories fully if they sound somewhat unbelievable," the satire account's administrator told Snopes.

In January 2026, a rumor circulated online claiming that an image authentically showed a massive snowbank on Wyoming's Devils Tower National Monument — known as "Matȟó Thípila" to the Lakota — as a result of a "historic wind event."

For example, Facebook user Casper Planet posted shared the claim (archived) on Jan. 19, gaining more than 46,000 reactions: 

Historic Wind Event Pushes Snow Onto Devils Tower Summit
 
WYOMING - Officials confirmed this week that last week's historic wind storm deposited a significant snow drift over the summit of Devils Tower, marking the first documented instance of the world-famous monument being partially capped by wind-driven snow.
 
According to meteorologists, sustained gusts exceeding normal Wyoming expectations pushed snow vertically along the tower's sheer sides, where it accumulated on the flat summit before drifting outward.
 
"This is not something we typically see," officials said. "Devils Tower is known for shedding snow quickly due to exposure, but the wind alignment last week was… ideal."
 
Geologists stressed there is no structural concern and noted the snow is expected to naturally clear once winds shift or temperatures rise.
 
Visitors are encouraged to enjoy the rare sight from a safe distance. Monitoring will continue.

Variations of the rumor also spread on Instagram (archived).

Some readers seemed to interpret the rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events. However, there was no evidence a massive wind storm created a snow shelf of the size shown in the image on Devils Tower. A Google search of one of the reported quotes by an "official" turned up results only related to the social media post. If a U.S. National Park Service official had actually shared the quote with any credible media outlet, Google search results would reflect that:

There was no indication a "historic wind event" passed through the area. National Weather Service reports from nearby Hulett Municipal Airport on Jan. 18 and 19 show overcast skies and light snow, not a "historic wind event."

Rather, the rumor about the freak weather event originated with Casper Planet — a social media account that describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature. In addition to the account's listed location, "Satire Street," its bio states: 

Delivering the Snews that doesn't matter directly to your Snews feed. Did we say this is satire? Well it is, names/locations are made up

"I just love doing this satire stuff, it's such an outlet for me," the account's administrator, Justin Hathaway, told Snopes over the phone. "Another reason is people don't really read things fully anymore, and it's a good way to educate people on reading stories fully if they sound somewhat unbelievable."

Casper Planet has a history of making up stories for shares and comments, relying on artificial intelligence to illustrate its claims. 

"All of the images on that page are created with AI," Hathaway said.

Hathaway confirmed to Snopes that he created the image of Devils Tower covered in snow with AI software ChatGPT and also ran the text of the story through ChatGPT to check its grammar. Hive, an AI-detection tool, also determined with 100% confidence that the image was likely AI-generated.

Snopes has a longstanding history of addressing similar satirical claims stemming from Casper Planet. Most recently, we debunked the claim that a Wyoming mountain "collapsed" and a rumor that a Wyoming man got a DUI while riding a bear.

For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.

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