Two ice climbers were caught and buried waist deep in an avalanche five miles west of Silverton, at an elevation of 11,000 feet. They lost climbing equipment and other gear, but were uninjured.
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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.
Two ice climbers were caught and buried waist deep in an avalanche five miles west of Silverton, at an elevation of 11,000 feet. They lost climbing equipment and other gear, but were uninjured.
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 31, 2:35 AM MST, 7 hours 55 minutes earlier.
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 235 AM MST SUN MAR 31 2002 BENIGN NW FLOW CONTINUES TODAY THEN WILL STRENGTHEN MONDAY AS THE SHORTWAVE ALONG THE BC COAST DROPS ESE. THIS FEATURE HANDLED BEST BY THE AVN VORTICITY FIELD. WEAK SHORTWAVES FRI AND SAT EVENING HAVE CAUSED OCCASIONAL DENSE CIRRUS AND BREEZES. ANOTHER WEAK SHORTWAVE BRUSHES NE COLORADO TODAY. THE TENDENCY IN THIS PATTERN IS FOR ENERGY TO TRY TO UNDERCUT THE RIDGE SO EXPECT ANOTHER EVENING OF BREEZES AS FAR WEST AS CANYONLANDS AIRPORT AND BLANDING. DETAILS...DURANGO WAS UNUSUALLY WARM SATURDAY IN THE VICINITY OF THE THERMAL RIDGE. RIDGE IN PLACE AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON SO WILL GO WELL ABOVE GUIDANCE THERE. FOR MONDAY...GOOD 8-7 WARM ADVECTION PROGGED FOR THE AFTERNOON SO WILL GO ABOVE GUIDANCE TEMPS. WINDY CONDITIONS FOR THE AFTERNOON...BUT BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA. TUESDAY...2C OF COOLING FOR THE NORTH WITH LITTLE TEMPERATURE CHANGE SOUTH. WEDNESDAY...NW FLOW CONTINUES ACROSS THE NORTH. IN THE SOUTH...CUTOFF LOW BEGINS TO TRANSLATE THRU NM WITH SOME HIGH-LEVEL MOISTURE RETURN INTO THE SOUTHERN ZONES. NO PRECIP EXPECTED. OTHERWISE NO CHANGES TO EXTENDED WITH PREVIOUS DISCUSSION ATTACHED BELOW FOR CONTINUITY. 99/RAMEY EXTENDED (WED-SAT)...DRY WEST-NORTHWEST FLOW ON WED. RIDGE BUILDS IN THU-FRI. MID-LEVEL LOW/TROF UNDERCUTS RIDGE AND MOVES ACROSS SRN CA/BAJA THU...AND THEN AZ/NM FRI. FLOW A LITTLE MORE ZONAL SAT AS EAST COAST TROF LIFTS OUT AND ANOTHER SHORTWAVE MOVES ACROSS THE NRN ROCKIES. LOOKS LIKE EASTERN UT/WRN CO WILL GENERALLY BE IN BETWEEN THE NRN AND SRN WAVES...BUT SHOULD SEE THE RIDGE BRIEFLY BREAK DOWN. MOISTURE APPEARS LIMITED SO WILL CONTINUE WITH THE DRY FORECAST AND GRADUAL WARMING THU-FRI. MAYBE A LITTLE COOLER SAT AND BREEZY ACROSS THE NORTH...BUT WILL NOT ADD MENTION OF WIND RIGHT NOW FOR THAT FAR OUT. JAD WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD MAINTAIN A NORMAL LEVEL OF WEATHER AWARENESS TODAY. .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, 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: 5285189.