Avalanche in Oregon, January 29, 1999

Name: Avalanche in Oregon, January 29, 1999
Start: 1999-01-29T14:10
End: 1999-01-29T14:10
Location: Oregon

January 29, 1999 · NWS PDT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 avalanche, as filed by the National Weather Service.

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
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, Northeast Oregon

When: January 29, 2:10 PM PST
Where: Northeast Oregon forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Two cross country skiers and a snowboarder were on a back country outing near Spout Springs. At one point, the snowboarder stopped to adjust his bindings and his friends skied on. When they realized that their friend had not followed, they hiked back uphill and saw the aftermath of a 250-yard snowslide. They were not able to find him and called for help. Search and rescue crews using probes and a specially trained dog were called off around midnight because of high wind and blowing snow. About 50 people resumed the search the next morning and found the snowboarder's body around 11:30 AM.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Avalanche, Northeast Oregon	1999-01-29	19	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct

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 1999 Every state in 1999 This day in weather history Warnings in Oregon, January 1999

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: 5681113.