Avalanche in Alaska, January 12, 2002

Name: Avalanche in Alaska, January 12, 2002
Start: 2002-01-12T12:00
End: 2002-01-12T20:00
Location: Alaska

January 12, 2002 · NWS AFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 avalanche, as filed by the National Weather Service.

The toll

Deaths: 2
Injuries: 1
Property damage: $6,000
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, Copper River Basin

When: January 12, 12:00 PM AST to 8:00 PM AST
Where: Copper River Basin forecast zone
Deaths: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $6,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Three people were buried by an avalanche while snowmachining on an unsupported cornice. One was dug out of the snow by her husband.

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, Copper River Basin	2002-01-12	13	Female	Outside/Open Areas	Direct
Avalanche, Copper River Basin	2002-01-12	35	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 Alaska in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, January 2002

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: 5277117.