Avalanche, W Okanogan/C&w Chelan
- When
- January 29, 3:30 PM PST
- Where
- W Okanogan/C&w Chelan forecast zone
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
Avalanche in Washington, January 29, 2001
An avalanche killed a 33-year old male who was snowshoeing about six miles northwest of Lake Wenatchee. His companion dug herself out and escaped serious injury.
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.
What happened
The episode as NWS OTX wrote it up.
An avalanche killed a 33-year old male who was snowshoeing about six miles northwest of Lake Wenatchee. His companion dug herself out and escaped serious injury.
What forecasters said that day
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 Spokane, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 29, 2:30 PM PST, 1 hour earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 29, 2:30 PM PST, 1 hour before
EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON 230 PM PST MON JAN 29 2001 THE KOTX WSR-88D SHOWS SHOWER ACTIVITY OVER THE PANHANDLE MTNS SUBSIDING. STEEP LOW-MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THIS EVENING...BUT DRIER AIR ADVECTING IN SHOULD CONTINUE THE DOWNWARD TREND. WITH LOW-MID LEVEL WINDS VEERING AROUND TO THE NORTHWEST...THE HIGHEST CONCENTRATION OF REMAINING SHOWERS WILL BE IN THE SRN ID PANHANDLE. BY LATE TONIGHT...A FLAT DIRTY RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER THE ERN PACIFIC FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS. A SHORTWAVE CURRENTLY NEARING THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS WILL SLIDE DOWN THE BACK SIDE OF THE RIDGE OVER B.C...BUT ITS MID-UPPER LEVEL FORCING WILL REMAIN WELL TO OUR NORTH. HOWEVER...THIS FEATURE WILL DRAG A NORTH-SOUTH WARM FRONT ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA ON TUE AFTN AND TUE NGT. THE ASSOCIATED WARM ADVECTION AND ISENTROPIC LIFT WILL CAUSE SNOW TO DEVELOP ON TUE AFTN. PRECIP CHANCES WILL BE HIGHEST ALONG THE CANADIAN BORDER AND LOWEST OVER THE SRN TIER OF ZONES. THE NRN PANHANDLE COULD GET MARGINAL ADVISORY AMOUNTS BY TUE NGT. PREVAILING LOW-MID LEVEL WESTERLY WINDS WILL PARTIALLY COUNTERACT THE ISENTROPIC LIFT IN DOWNSLOPE REGIONS OVER THE WESTERN BASIN AND ALONG THE LOWER CASCADE EAST SLOPES...KEEPING PRECIP AMOUNTS AND POPS LOWER THERE. THE WARM FRONT IS GONE BY WED...BUT MODERATE AMOUNTS OF MOISTURE...WEAK WARM ADVECTION AND ACTIVE NORTHWEST FLOW WILL CONTINUE TO WARRANT LOW POPS WED. HANER EXTENDED...STILL APPEARS TO BE A SERIES OF WAVES WHICH WILL MOVE OVER THE AREA FROM TIME TO TIME DURING THE EXTENDED PERIOD. SINCE IT WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN THE WET PERIODS AND THE DRY ONES WILL JUST CALL FOR A CHANCE OF MOUNTAIN SNOW AND VALLEY RAIN EACH DAY THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD. LH ...THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRODUCT CONCERNING WARNINGS AND FORECASTS IS VALID ONLY AT THE TIME OF ISSUANCE. THE LATEST WARNING AND FORECAST INFORMATION WILL BE FOUND IN THE APPROPRIATE PRODUCTS... GEG 019/031/025/032 1343 CQV 019/031/024/034 1564 SPT 020/030/024/033 2564 COE 020/030/024/033 2343 WWP 017/027/023/031 4454 LWS 027/036/028/038 2132t PUW 021/033/025/034 2343 EAT 026/036/027/032 --22 MWH 025/037/027/034 0-22 .GEG...NONE.
Event by event
1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
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, W Okanogan/C&w Chelan | 2001-01-29 | 33 | 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
- Damaging Winds in Mississippi, January 29, 2001
- Ice Storm in Iowa, January 29, 2001
- Blizzard in South Dakota, January 29 to 30, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Texas, January 29, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, January 29, 2001
- Winter Storm in Minnesota, January 29 to 30, 2001
- Winter Storm in Minnesota, January 29 to 30, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Louisiana, January 29, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, January 29, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Mississippi, January 29, 2001
- Winter Storm and High Wind in Nebraska, January 29 to 30, 2001
- Winter Storm in Nebraska, January 29 to 30, 2001
More
Every storm in Washington in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, January 2001
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: 5228163.