1 avalanche, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 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 Pendleton, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 29, 8:55 AM PST, 4 hours 35 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
855 AM PST SUN DEC 29 2002
SNOW HAS ENDED ACROSS MOST OF THE AREA WITH JUST SOME RESIDUAL
SCATTERED SHOWERS REMAINING OVER PORTIONS OF THE BLUE AND WALLOWA
MOUNTAINS. AS SUCH...THE SNOW ADVISORIES CURRENTLY IN PLACE WILL BE
ALLOWED TO EXPIRE THIS MORNING. WE WILL BE BETWEEN SYSTEMS THIS
AFTERNOON AS WEAK RIDGING MOVES THROUGH. THE NEXT ROUND OF PRECIP
IT WILL DEVELOP ON MONDAY IN RESPONSE TO A WARM AIR ADVECTION
PATTERN SETTING UP. RAIN AND HIGHER ELEVATION SNOW SHOULD TAPPER
OFF FOR TUESDAY. WE WILL ONCE AGAIN BE BETWEEN SYSTEMS TUESDAY
AFTERNOON AND NIGHT FOR A BRIEF BREAK IN PRECIP BEFORE THE NEXT
SYSTEMS MOVES IN ON WEDNESDAY. MJB.
PDT 636 ALW 636 PSC 334 YKM 356
.KPDT...SNOW ADVISORY FOR THE FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS
(OREGON ZONE 45 AND WASHINGTON ZONE 29)...BLUE MOUNTAINS
(OREGON ZONE 46 AND WASHINGTON ZONE 30) AND THE GRAND RONDE
VALLEY (OREGON ZONE 49) THROUGH 1000 AM.
...HEAVY SNOW WARNING FOR WALLOWA COUNTY (OREGON ZONE 50)
THROUGH 1000 AM.
...HEAVY SNOW WATCH FOR CENTRAL OREGON (OREGON ZONE 43) AND THE
JOHN DAY HIGH LANDS (OREGON ZONE 48) FOR MONDAY THROUGH
TUESDAY MORNING1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
An avalanche was triggered by a skier near Crystal Mountain where a skier was killed after being buried in five feet of snow. Three others were partially buried, with one injury reported.
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, W Kittitas/W Yakima/W Klickitat T X Sw | 2002-12-29 | 37 | Male | Other | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, December 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: 5325520.