Avalanche, Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng
- When
- April 10, 2:15 PM AST to 2:30 PM AST
- Where
- Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng forecast zone
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
Avalanche in Alaska, April 10, 2004
An avalanche occurred in the Gun Creek canyon, during the annual Arctic Man Ski-N-Sno-go Classic held at Summit Lake. A 24 year old man was trying to free his snowmobile stuck near the bottom of the canyon.
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 AFG wrote it up.
An avalanche occurred in the Gun Creek canyon, during the annual Arctic Man Ski-N-Sno-go Classic held at Summit Lake. A 24 year old man was trying to free his snowmobile stuck near the bottom of the canyon. Two other traveling companions each left their snowmobiles and walked toward the man to assist him. The avalanche then started several hundred feet up the slope, and the three men ran to safety. Overtaken by the snow, one man managed to stay on the surface of the moving snow, and his son became buried but quickly dug himself out. The third man, whose snowmobile had been stuck, was buried and perished.
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 Fairbanks, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 10, 1:30 PM AST, 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 10, 1:30 PM AST, 45 minutes before
NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION 230 PM ADT SAT APR 10 2004 .DISCUSSION...MILD SPRING WEATHER CONTINUES OVER MOST OF NORTHERN ALASKA UNDER LIGHT S-LY FLOW ALOFT AND NOT MUCH CHANGE IN THIS REGIME IS EXPECTED FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. A BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE AT THE SURFACE AND ALOFT IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN OVER THE SOUTHERN BERING SEA FOR THE NEXT 7-10 DAYS. WEAKENING SHORTWAVES ROTATING NORTHWARD AROUND THIS LOW CENTER ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE OVER THE WESTERN PORTION OF MAINLAND ALASKA, BRING IN CLOUDS AND A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW FROM TIME TO TIME INTO NEXT WEEK. THE DRYING EFFECTS OF THE ALASKA RANGE WILL PRETTY MUCH KEEP ANY PRECIP OUT OF THE INTERIOR AND KEEP SKIES MOSTLY CLEAR TO PARTLY CLOUDY. STRONG S-LY SURFACE WINDS ARE OCCURRING ALONG THE COAST OF ZONE 214 AS A SHORTWAVE PASSES OVER THIS REGION AND ARE LIKELY TO RE-OCCUR AS A SERIES OF SHORTWAVES PASS OVER THE REGION. TEMPS ARE ONCE AGAIN RISING INTO THE 30S AND 40S OVER THE WEST COAST ZONES AND 40S AND 50S OVER THE INTERIOR TODAY. TEMPS CONTINUE MUCH COLDER ALONG THE ARCTIC COAST, IN THE SINGLE NUMBERS AND TEENS, AS HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE HIGH ARCTIC PUSHES LOW-LEVEL COLD AIR OVER THE REGION. MODERATE E-LY WINDS, FOG, AND FLURRIES ARE ALSO OCCURRING OVER THE ARCTIC COAST TODAY. TEMPS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO CHANGE MUCH OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS AS PRETTY MUCH THE SAME AIRMASS REMAINS IN PLACE. BEGINNING ABOUT THU OF NEXT WEEK, ENERGY FROM THE REMAINS OF SUPERTYPHOON SUDAL MAY BEGIN TO PLAY A ROLE IN OUR WEATHER. THIS TYPHOON IS CURRENTLY LOCATED AT ABOUT 12N132E AND IS MOVING SLOWLY N-WARD. SUDAL IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO MOVE N-WARD, THEN NE-WARD OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. AT THIS POINT, IT IS QUITE UNCERTAIN HOW OR EVEN IF THIS TYPHOON WILL AFFECT OUR WEATHER. WE WILL JUST HAVE TO CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS SITUATION CLOSELY AND ADJUST FORECASTS AS REQUIRED. .AFG...WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORIES... PUBLIC...WIND ADVY 214 SOUTHWEST OF SCAMMON BAY TONIGHT. MARINE...NONE. MP APR 04
Event by event
1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
The people who died
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, Ne. Slopes of the Ern Ak Rng | 2004-04-10 | 24 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
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
- Tornado and Hail in Texas, April 10, 2004
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Alabama, April 10, 2004
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Texas, April 10, 2004
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in Gulf of Mexico, April 10, 2004
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, April 10, 2004
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in Gulf of Mexico, April 10, 2004
- Hail in Oklahoma, April 10, 2004
- Hail in North Carolina, April 10, 2004
- Hail in Texas, April 10, 2004
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Mississippi, April 10, 2004
- Damaging Winds in Arizona, April 10, 2004
- Hail in Texas, April 10, 2004
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, April 2004
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: 5387273.