Avalanche, West Elk and Sawatch Mountains
- When
- February 6, 4:00 PM MST
- Where
- West Elk and Sawatch Mountains forecast zone
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 38.643, -107.721 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Avalanche in Colorado, February 6, 2002
A backcountry skier was traversing a ridge at the 12,000 foot level on the south side of Crystal Peak and triggered a hard slab avalanche which was 150 feet wide and ran 300 vertical feet. The skier was found buried under 4 feet of snow.
Where it happened
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.
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- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
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- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
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 GJT wrote it up.
A backcountry skier was traversing a ridge at the 12,000 foot level on the south side of Crystal Peak and triggered a hard slab avalanche which was 150 feet wide and ran 300 vertical feet. The skier was found buried under 4 feet of snow.
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 Grand Junction, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 6, 2:03 PM MST, 1 hour 57 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 6, 2:03 PM MST, 1 hour 57 minutes before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 203 PM MST WED FEB 6 2002 WEAK UPPER LEVEL BOUNDARY MOVING OVER THE STATE CURRENTLY SHOWN WELL IN WV IMAGERY AND MATCHES WELL WITH 500 MB RUC VORT PATTERN. NO MOISTURE WITH THIS FEATURE AND NO LOW LVL TEMP CHGS...SO WILL HAVE NO DETECTABLE EFFECT ON SENSIBLE WEATHER. RIDGE REMAINS OVER INTERMTN WEST AND IS SLOWLY MOVING EAST. NEXT PACIFIC TROUGH CURRENTLY MOVING ONSHORE OVER PACNW...WITH WAA CLDS IN SW FLOW AHEAD OF THIS TROUGH SPREADING ACROSS NRN GREAT BASIN. THIS FEATURE IN NOT VERY IMPRESSIVE CURRENTLY AND MODELS BREAK IN UP AS IT MOVES EAST THRU THE NRN PART OF THE RIDGE. CLDS SHOULD INCREASE ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE CWA THU AND THU NGT...WITH THE FIRST WEAK VORT MAX MOVING THRU THE AREA FRI. THIS IS A BIT SLOWER THAN PREVIOUS MODELS INDICATED. WILL INCREASE CLDS THU AND THU NGT...WITH SLGT CHC OF SNOW OVER THE NRN MOUNTAINOUS ZONES LATE THU NGT AND AND CHC ON FRI. WILL TAPOR BACK SOME OF THE CLDS AND PCPN FCST FOR CNTRL AND SOUTHERN MTN ZONES. GUIDANCE TEMPS MAKE SENSE...AS WARM ADVECTION AHEAD OF SYSTEM SHOULD INCREASE DAYTIME HIGHS...AND CLDS AT NGT SHOULD KEEP LOWS WARMER. EXTENDED (SUN-WED)...RIDGE OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST DOMINATES THE REGIONS WEATHER SUNDAY. AS USUAL THE VALLEYS WILL STAY INVERTED WITH WARMING MTN TEMPS. PROGRESSION BRINGS A RETURN OF W-SW TIGHTENING FLOW INCREASING CLOUDS AND ERODING BUT PROBABLY NOT BREAKING THE VALLEY INVERSIONS. TEMPS TREND UP A FEW MORE DEGREES. MRF REMAINS EXCITED ABOUT THE NEXT PACIFIC OPEN-TROF ON TUESDAY. THE EC/UK SHOW ONLY A FASTER NORTHERN-BRANCH WAVE AND TROFINESS LAGGING IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC. THE CANADIAN/NOGAPS ARE SIMILAR TO THE MRF BUT SLOWER. AS THE MRF ORIGINALLY TIMED THIS TROPA ON MONDAY...A SLOWER TIMING LOOKS LIKELY. FOR THIS PACKAGE WILL LUMP TUE-WED AND AS BAROCLINIC...POP EMPHASIS NORTH. RAMEY .GJT...NONE.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Winter Weather in North Carolina, February 6, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Missouri, February 6 to 7, 2002
- Winter Weather in Georgia, February 6, 2002
- Winter Weather in South Carolina, February 6, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Kentucky, February 6, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, February 6 to 8, 2002
- High Wind in Oregon, February 6, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Washington, February 6, 2002
- Heavy Snow in West Virginia, February 6 to 7, 2002
- Flood in Indiana, February 6 to 12, 2002
- Flood in Indiana, February 6 to 11, 2002
- Ice Storm in North Carolina, February 6, 2002
More
Every storm in Colorado in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, February 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: 5283801.