A skier at Aspen Highlands Ski Area slid off the trail beyond the ski area boundary rope. The skier landed in an area of "loose snow" and triggered an avalanche.
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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 skier at Aspen Highlands Ski Area slid off the trail beyond the ski area boundary rope. The skier landed in an area of "loose snow" and triggered an avalanche. The avalanche was 4 to 6 feet wide and traveled 130 feet downslope. The skier was buried under 18 inches of snow and was not discovered in time to be revived.
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 Feb 1, 1:45 PM MST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 145 PM MST FRI FEB 1 2002 BENIGN WEATHER ACROSS CWFA THIS AFTN AFTER ANOTHER COLD START TO THE DAY OVER THE HIGH VALLEYS OF CO. UNDER ABUNDANT SUNSHINE...TEMPS ABOUT 5F WARMER THAN THIS TIME YESTERDAY. IR SATL IMAGERY SHOWING PLUME OF SUB-TROPICAL MOISTURE LIFTING NORTH FROM PACIFIC...WITH WEAK H5 TROUGH MOVING INLAND ALONG PAC NW COAST. FORECAST...SOUTHERN ENERGY FROM PAC NW TROF SPLITS FROM MEAN FLOW THIS EVENING...SLOWING ITS PROGRESSION EAST. MID/HIGH CLOUDS WILL BE ON THE INCREASE TONIGHT WITH APPROACH OF THIS FEATURE. IN ADDITION...MODELS WANT TO TAP INTO SUB-TROPICAL PLUME TO SOUTH AS STRONG 130KT JET DEVELOPS AND ORIENTS ITSELF SW-NE NEAR THE FOUR CORNERS. WITH STABLE AIRMASS IN PLACE AND VERY LITTLE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE/LIFT WITH THIS SYSTEM...EXPECT NO PRECIP. TROF IS SHUNTED ACROSS CWFA SAT NIGHT AS UPR RIDGE DEVELOPS AHEAD OF NEXT PAC NW STORM. THIS RIDGE WILL AFFECT THE AREAS WEATHER SUN WITH DRY AND MILD CONDITIONS. NEXT THREAT OF PRECIP WILL OCCUR MONDAY FOR THE NRN MOUNTAINS AS ABOVE MENTIONED PAC NW STORM BEGINS TO DIVE SE FROM MONTANA. AVN/MRF TRACKS OF THIS STORM HAVE BEEN CONSISTENT WITH TAKING IT ACROSS THE NRN PLAINS...FAR ENOUGH AWAY TO HAVE MINIMAL IMPACT...BUT UK/EMCWF STILL KEEPS TRACK ACROSS WY/CO MON INTO TUE. EXTENDED (TUE-FRI): MODELS CONTINUE TO TREND THE MONDAY SHORTWAVE FURTHER NORTH AND WILL ELIMINATE CHANCES OF PRECIP FOR MANY OF THE CENTRAL ZONES. PROGRESSIVE NORTHERN BRANCH CONTINUES WITH MRF PROGGING SHORTWAVES PASSING TUE NIGHT AND THURSDAY...FAVORING THE NORTH. EC/UK ARE LESS PROGRESSIVE BUT NOT SUPPORTED BY THE 12Z ETA/AVN. RAMEY NADLER.83 .GJT...NONE.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, February 2002
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: 5283800.