Two out-of-bounds skiers triggered a soft-slab avalanche east of the Telluride Ski Area at an elevation of 11,800 feet. The slide traveled 2200 vertical feet, killing one person and seriously injuring another.
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.
Two out-of-bounds skiers triggered a soft-slab avalanche east of the Telluride Ski Area at an elevation of 11,800 feet. The slide traveled 2200 vertical feet, killing one person and seriously injuring another. The victim was not recovered until weeks later, as debris at the bottom of the slide was estimated to be 30 feet deep and hardpacked.
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 15, 2:57 AM MST, 10 hours 18 minutes earlier.
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 257 AM MST FRI MAR 15 2002 A FEW LINGERING SNOW SHOWERS PERSIST AT THE MOMENT WITH AREAS OF LOW CLOUDS IN SOME NORTHERN AND CENTRAL VALLEYS. SHORTWAVE WILL MOVE SOUTH OF THE 4-CORNERS TODAY AS COOL UNSTABLE AIRMASS REMAINS OVER THE AREA IN GENERAL TROUGHINESS OVER THE WEST. DAYTIME HEATING WORKING ON RESIDUAL LOW LEVEL RH WILL RESULT IN SCATTERED INSTABILITY SNOW SHOWERS MAINLY OVER THE NORTH AND CENTL MTNS TODAY...BUT SOME WARM AIR ADVECTION ALOFT THIS AFTERNOON SHOULD CAP CONVECTION AT AROUND 550 MB. RATHER DISORGANIZED LOOKING PATTERN THIS WEEKEND WITH MEAN TROUGH OVER THE WEST. PIECES OF ENERGY MOVING THROUGH FLOW OUT AHEAD OF NEXT SIG WAVE THAT CLOSES OFF MID-LEVEL LOW VICINITY OF PAC NW ON SAT. 700 MB SOUTHWEST FLOW BECOMES ESTABLISHED ON SAT. SFC TROF AND SOME COOLING AT 500 MB ENOUGH FOR CHANCE OF SHOWERS ON SAT. MAY HAVE TO ADD BREEZY TO SOME ZONES FOR SAT. AVN STRENGTHENS FLOW ALOFT ON SUN WITH CONTINUED CHANCE OF SHOWERS MAINLY FOR THE MTNS. TEMPS SHOULD REMAIN BELOW NORMAL. EXTENDED (MON-THU)...UNSETTLED PATTERN LOOKS TO CONTINUE AS IT APPEARS MEAN TROUGHING SHOULD PERSIST OVER THE WEST. SOME DIFFERENCES IN HANDLING THE CLOSED PAC NW LOW WITH AVN/MRF WANTING TO BRING IT E-SE ACROSS ERN UT/WRN CO AS OPEN WAVE EARLY MON...WHILE 14/12Z ECMWF DROPS IT FARTHER SOUTH AND HOLDS IT BACK UNTIL EARLY TUE. WITH MODEL DIFFERENCES ALSO IN THE LATER PERIODS TIMING OF DAILY FEATURES PROBLEMATIC...SO WILL NOT CHANGE THE CURRENTLY BROADBRUSHED EXTENDED AT THIS TIME. JAD .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, Northwestern San Juan Mountains | 2002-03-15 | 31 | Female | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
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, March 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: 5285064.