Avalanche in Oregon, January 15, 1998

Name: Avalanche in Oregon, January 15, 1998
Start: 1998-01-15T14:00
End: 1998-01-15T14:00
Location: Oregon

January 15, 1998 · NWS PDT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 avalanche, as filed by the National Weather Service.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 1
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

Event by event

1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.

Avalanche, Central Oregon

When: January 15, 2:00 PM PST
Where: Central Oregon forecast zone
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect

A snowmobiler in Newberry Crater, 25 miles southeast of Bend, dislodged a foot-ball field sized snow field that knocked him more than 100 yards and buried him under 5 feet of snow. Another man, covered to his waist, freed himself and joined a friend to help dig the buried man out. When buried man's head was uncovered he was unconscious, his face discolored and his breathing labored. His friends were able to dig him out and drive him back to the lodge. He was then airlifted to a medical center in Bend where he was treated and released.

What these are

Avalanche: A mass of snow sliding down a mountainside that caused a death, an injury or damage.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Oregon in 1998 Every state in 1998 This day in weather history Warnings in Oregon, January 1998

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5659987.