A backcountry skier was caught and buried in an avalanche on the northeast slope of Farwell Mountain, at the 10,840 foot level. The avalanche location is about 23 miles north of Steamboat Springs.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.
A backcountry skier was caught and buried in an avalanche on the northeast slope of Farwell Mountain, at the 10,840 foot level. The avalanche location is about 23 miles north of Steamboat Springs.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Grand Junction, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 18, 2:29 AM MST, 11 hours 1 minute earlier.
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 229 AM MST SUN MAR 18 2001 FORECAST AREA NOW UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WITH PLENTY OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE STILL TRAPPED IN THE HIGHER VALLEYS. WEAK DISTURBANCE PASSING THROUGH THE AREA EARLY THIS MORNING BRINGING A SOLID MID DECK OF CLOUDS...ALONG WITH A FEW SNOW SHOWERS. THIS WILL BE THE TREND OVER THE NEXT 24 TO 36 HOURS AS WEAK DISTURBANCES WORK THROUGH...TRIGGERING OCCASIONAL SNOW SHOWERS FOR THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS WITH ISOLATED TO SCATTERED RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS FOR THE LOWER ELEVATIONS NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70. MODELS DO WORK A 100KT SPEED MAX SOUTHEAST INTO THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON...AND THIS WILL LIKELY ENHANCE SNOWFALL OVER THIS AREA. OVERALL...ACCUMULATIONS OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS TODAY EXPECTED TO BE ON THE LIGHT SIDE. HOWEVER...FAVORED NW SLOPES WL SEE SLIGHTLY HEAVIER AMOUNTS. AS JET ROTATES THROUGH LATER TODAY...WINDS WILL ALSO KICK-UP OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS...AND WL ADD THAT TO CURRENT FORECAST PACKAGE. SHOULD SEE DIMINISHING SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY OVERNIGHT AND CURRENT FORECAST ALREADY HAS THIS TREND GOING AS WELL. MONDAY WL SEE DRY CONDS CONT FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE FORECAST AREA WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE NRN MTNS...WHERE WAA OROGRAPHIC SNOW SHOWERS LIKELY TO CONTINUE. NORTHWEST FLOW WL EVENTUALLY GIVE WAY TO MORE ZONAL PATTERN MONDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY THURSDAY. PLENTY OF PACIFIC MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO STREAM INTO THE REGION...KEEPING MOSTLY CLOUDY CONDS AND A THREAT OF MTN SNOW THROUGH THE WEEK. ONE BENEFIT IS DECENT WARM-UP IN STORE...IN SPITE OF CLOUD COVER...AS H7 TEMPS CLIMB TO +2C BY TUESDAY. HEIGHTS RISE ALONG THE WEST COAST BY LATE IN THE WEEK...BUT AVN AND NEW MRF INDICATING A SYSTEM WILL UNDERCUT THE BUILDING RIDGE AND MOVE INTO THE GREAT BASIN BY WEEKS END. CONFIDENCE LOW IN THIS SCENARIO PANNING OUT...SO WL CONT PERSISTENCE OF CURRENT EXTENDED FOR NOW...AND ADJUST AS WE SEE A LITTLE BETTER CONTINUITY. EMERGENCY MANAGERS IN THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO SHOULD MAINTAIN A HEIGHTENED LEVEL OF =WEATHER AWARENESS TODAY DUE TO OCCASIONAL SNOW SHOWERS. OTHER EMERGENCY MANAGERS IN WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH SHOULD MAINTAIN A NORMAL LEVEL OF WEATHER AWARENESS THROUGH TODAY. COLTON .GJT...NONE.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
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, Elkhead and Park Mountains | 2001-03-18 | 34 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, March 2001
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: 5237375.