Avalanche, Upper Snake Highlands
- When
- March 22, 2:30 PM MST to 3:00 PM MST
- Where
- Upper Snake Highlands forecast zone
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
Avalanche in Idaho, March 22, 2002
An avalanche killed a snowmobiler east of Bald Peak on Targhee Pass in Fremont County. The avalanche was 200 yards wide and traveled 250 yards.
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 PIH wrote it up.
An avalanche killed a snowmobiler east of Bald Peak on Targhee Pass in Fremont County. The avalanche was 200 yards wide and traveled 250 yards. The individual was buried under 25 feet of snow and was unable to be rescued .
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 Pocatello, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 22, 9:40 AM MST, 4 hours 50 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 22, 9:40 AM MST, 4 hours 50 minutes before
SOUTHEAST IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO/IDAHO FALLS ID 940 AM MST FRI MAR 22 2002 SAT IR LOOP SHOWING DEEPEST MOISTURE JUST WEST OF ID BORDER WHILE THIN HIGH CLOUDS INDICATED ACROSS E ID. MOISTURE AND ASSOCIATED DEEP 5H TROF ALONG COAST WILL LIFT NE TONIGHT AND SAT AS UPPER TROF FILLS. SHOWERS TO MOVE INTO FCST/A BY SAT MORNING. IN THE SHORT TERM... FCST ON TARGET WITH SOME OF THE WARMEST TEMPS SO FAR THIS YEAR. ASSUMING NEARLY FULL SUNSHINE...BOI SOUNDING SUPPORTS LOW/MID 60S ACROSS MUCH OF LOWER SNAKE VALLEY THIS AFTN. AS A RESULT...NO UPDATES NEEDED ATTM. WINTHER KSFX WSR-88D...OPERATIONAL...VCP 32. BYI 62/35/53 024 .PIH...NONE. PIH BR 061/033 052/031 050 04024
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
- High Surf in Puerto Rico, March 22, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Ohio, March 22, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, March 22, 2002
- Heavy Snow in New York, March 22 to 23, 2002
- Flooding in Kentucky, March 22 to 31, 2002
- Heavy Snow in California, March 22 to 23, 2002
- High Wind in Georgia, March 22, 2002
- Winter Storm in West Virginia, March 22, 2002
- Winter Storm in Pennsylvania, March 22, 2002
- Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in California, March 22 to 24, 2002
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in North Atlantic Coastal Waters, March 22, 2002
- Heavy Snow in California, March 22 to 23, 2002
More
Every storm in Idaho in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, March 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: 5281706.