An avalanche took the life of a 24-year old man from California, on Mt. Huron in Chaffee county, which is 19 miles west-northwest of Buena Vista.
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 PUB wrote it up.
An avalanche took the life of a 24-year old man from California, on Mt. Huron in Chaffee county, which is 19 miles west-northwest of Buena Vista. Three men triggered the avalanche while snowshoeing and skiing. The avalanche was approximately 1500 feet long and 1500 feet wide. The man was buried under about six feet of snow, while his companions were able to get out of the way of the quickly advancing snow.
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 Pueblo, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 9, 1:00 PM MST, 1 hour 59 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO 200 PM MDT FRI APR 9 2004 .SHORT TERM... (TONIGHT AND SATURDAY) ...POTENTIAL SNOW EVENT IS STILL ON TRACK FOR TNGT/SAT... CURRENTLY...WATER VAPOR IMAGERY AND RUC MODEL H5-H3 ANALYSES SHOWING SHORTWAVE TROUGH MOVING OUT OF THE GREAT BASIN INTO CO AND DESERT SW. IN RESPONSE TO THIS SHORTWAVE AND COMBINED WITH MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY...ISOLD-SCT SHRA/TSRA HAVE BEEN BREAKING OUT ACROSS WRN/SRN CO THIS AFTN. WE HAVE BEEN RECEIVING A LOT OF 1/4 INCH DIAMETER HAIL...WHICH IS NOT SURPRISING. ANY SNOW IS STILL LIKELY FALLING AT AND ABOVE 9K FT MSL THIS AFTN. THE NEXT SYSTEM...STRONGER THAN THE PRESENT ONE...IS CONTINUING TO DIG S-SEWD OUT OF THE NRN ROCKIES. AT THE SAME TIME...COLD AIR IS STARTING TO DAM ALONG THE NRN FRONT RANGE CO AND WY AND STARTING TO HEAD SWD. FOR TNGT THROUGH SAT...SHOULD CONTINUE TO SEE THE AFOREMENTIONED WEATHER SYSTEM OVER THE NRN ROCKIES MOVING S-SEWD TNGT INTO SAT. IT APPEARS TO BE A LITTLE STRONGER THAN THE MODELS ARE SUGGESTING. THE COLD FRONT TO OUR N WILL ALSO CONTINUE TO DROP SWD. SHOULD SEE PRECIPITATION BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD DURING THE EVENING AND ESPECIALLY DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. SNOW LEVEL WILL BE AROUND 7K- 9K FT MSL EARLY THIS EVENING AND DROP TO AROUND 5K FT MSL LATER TNGT. DURING SAT...THERE IS STILL PLENTY OF SYNOPTIC SCALE ASCENT(H7- H5) ACROSS SRN CO...EXCEPT JUST NR CO/KS BORDER...SO PRECIPITATION WILL CONTINUE OFF AND ON DURING SAT. CURRENT DIGITAL FORECAST LOOKS LIKE A GOOD START AND ONLY MADE SOME MINOR MODIFICATION AND ADDED LITTLE MORE DETAIL. AREAS OF FOG AND IFR/LIFR STRATUS COULD BE A PROBLEM ACROSS MUCH OF THE MTS AND SERN CO PLAINS LATER TNGT. THE ONLY POTENTIAL FOR THUNDER SAT AFTN WILL BE AROUND THE ERN SAN JUAN MTS/SAN LUIS VALLEY. AS FOR SNOW AMOUNTS...THE COLLEGIATE/MOSQUITO MT RANGE...PIKES PEAK...AND SERN CO MTS COULD STILL SEE ABOUT 8-12 INCHES TNGT WITH A FEW MORE INCHES ON SAT. THE ADJACENT VALLEYS AND PLAINS WILL SEE LESSER AMOUNTS. SRN EL PASO AND PUEBLO COUNTY SHOULD SEE HIGHER SNOW AMOUNTS NEAR THE MTS COMPARED TO THE ERN PORTION OF THOSE COUNTIES. FOR THE ERN SAN JUAN MTS...OPTED TO GO WITH A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY AS NUMBERS ARE JUST BELOW THE 12HOUR CRITERION FOR A WARNING. METZE .LONG TERM... (SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY) SAT NIGHT THE UPR LOW WL BE AROUND THE 4 CORNERS AREA WITH THE MAIN SYSTEM ENERGY TO OUR W AND S. THE LOWER AND MID LVL WINDS ACRS THE AREA WL BE FAIRLY LIGHT AND SWITCHING FROM AN ERLY DIRECTION TO MORE NORTHERLY. MSTR OVR THE AREA SAT NIGHT STILL LOOKS QUITE DEEP AND WE STILL HAVE SOME QG ASCENT TO WORK WITH AND WL LEAVE SOME POPS ALL AREAS. THEN ON SUN AS THE WHOLE UPR TROF CONTINUES MAKING ITS WAY SOUTH...DRIER AIR MOVES IN BUT THERE IS SOME DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN THE MODELS AS TO HOW MUCH DRYING THERE WL BE SO WL DECREASE POPS BUT NOT ELIMINATE THEM. TEMPS ON SUN WL DEPEND SOMEWHAT ON HOW MUCH SUN WE WL SEE. GFS HAS MORE CLOUDS AND MSTR AND MAV TEMPS ARE THE COOLEST...BUT THINK WE MAY SEE SOME SUN AND WL GO WARMER THAN MAV. SUN NIGHT AN UPR TROF MOVING SOUTH FROM THE DAKOTAS WL MOVE OVR THE AREA WITH ANOTHER COOL AIR SURGE AND CHC FOR PCPN. THE GFS IS STILL FARTHER W THAN THE ETA WITH THIS TROF. DURING THE DAY MON THE UPR TROF WL MOVE OUT OF THE AREA WITH AN UPR RIDGE BUILDING TO THE W OF CO AND INCREASING THE HEIGHTS OVR THE STATE. MON NIGHT THRU WED THE UPR RIDGE WL BE THE MAIN WEA FEATURE AFFECTING THE AREA AND WL KEEP THE WEA WITH WARMING TEMPS. FRI IT LOOKS LIKE A FAIRLY STRONG UPR TROF MAY MOVE INTO THE FOUR CORNERS REGION BRINGING A CHC FOR PCPN TO MUCH OF THE AREA AND COOLER TEMPS...BUT WL NOT JUMP ON THIS YET. && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING MOUNTAINS OF LAKE AND CHAFFEE COUNTIES (ZONES 58>61 AND 63)...ALL SOUTHEAST MOUNTAINS...WET MTN VLY...AND PALMER DIVIDE (ZONES 72>76...78...79>82...84)...HUERFANO AND WESTERN LAS ANIMAS COUNTIES (ZONES 87 AND 88) FOR TONIGHT AND SATURDAY. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UPPER ARKANSAS RIVER VALLEY (ZONES 62...77 AND 83)...SOUTHERN EL PASO AND PUEBLO COUNTIES (ZONES 85 AND 86) FOR TONIGHT AND SATURDAY. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY EASTERN SAN JUAN AND LA GARITA MOUNTAINS (ZONES 66>68) FOR SATURDAY.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO 645 AM MDT FRI APR 9 2004 COZ058>089-093>099-101300- ALAMOSA VICINITY/CENTRAL SAN LUIS VALLEY BELOW 8500 FT- CANON CITY VICINITY/EASTERN FREMONT COUNTY- CENTRAL CHAFFEE COUNTY BELOW 9000 FT- COLORADO SPRINGS VICINITY/SOUTHERN EL PASO COUNTY/RAMPART RANGE BELOW 7500 FT-CROWLEY COUNTY- DEL NORTE VICINITY/NORTHERN SAN LUIS VALLEY BELOW 8500 FT- EASTERN KIOWA COUNTY-EASTERN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY- EASTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT- EASTERN SAWATCH MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FT- LA GARITA MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT-LA JUNTA VICINITY/OTERO COUNTY- LAMAR VICINITY/PROWERS COUNTY-LAS ANIMAS VICINITY/BENT COUNTY- LEADVILLE VICINITY/LAKE COUNTY BELOW 11000 FT- NORTHERN EL PASO COUNTY/MONUMENT RIDGE/RAMPART RANGE BELOW 7500 FT- NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FEET- NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 8500 AND 11000 FT- NORTHWESTERN FREMONT COUNTY ABOVE 8500 FT-PIKES PEAK ABOVE 11000 FT- PUEBLO AND VICINITY/PUEBLO COUNTY BELOW 6300 FT- SAGUACHE COUNTY EAST OF CONTINENTAL DIVIDE BELOW 10000 FT- SAGUACHE COUNTY WEST OF CONTINENTAL DIVIDE BELOW 10000 FT- SOUTHERN SAN LUIS VALLEY- SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FT- SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 7500 AND 11000 FT- SPRINGFIELD VICINITY/BACA COUNTY- TELLER COUNTY/RAMPART RANGE ABOVE 7500 FT/PIKES PEAK BETWEEN 7500 AND 11000 FT- TRINIDAD VICINITY/WESTERN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY BELOW 7500 FT- UPPER RIO GRANDE VALLEY/EASTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS BELOW 10000 FT- WALSENBURG VICINITY/UPPER HUERFANO RIVER BASIN BELOW 7500 FT- WESTERN CHAFFEE COUNTY BETWEEN 9000 AND 11000 FT- WESTERN KIOWA COUNTY- WESTERN MOSQUITO RANGE/EAST CHAFFEE COUNTY ABOVE 9000 FT- WESTERN MOSQUITO RANGE/EAST LAKE COUNTY ABOVE 11000 FT- WESTERN/CENTRAL FREMONT COUNTY BELOW 8500 FT- WET MOUNTAIN VALLEY BELOW 8500 FEET-WET MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT- WET MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 6300 AND 10000 FT- 645 AM MDT FRI APR 9 2004 ...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT AND SATURDAY FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF LAKE AND CHAFFEE COUNTIES...ALL OF THE SOUTHEAST COLORADO MOUNTAINS...THE WET MOUNTAIN VALLEY...THE PALMER DIVIDE...HUERFANO COUNTY...AND WESTERN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY... ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TONIGHT AND SATURDAY FOR THE UPPER ARKANSAS RIVER VALLEY...SOUTHERN EL PASO COUNTY...AND PUEBLO COUNTY... ...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT SATURDAY FOR THE EASTERN SAN JUAN AND LA GARITA MOUNTAINS... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. A POWERFUL SPRING STORM WILL BRING HEAVY...WET SNOW TO THE SOUTHEAST COLORADO MOUNTAINS AND ADJACENT VALLEYS AND PLAINS LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT. SEVERAL INCHES OF HEAVY WET SNOW COULD ACCUMULATE IN THESE AREAS BY SATURDAY MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. SNOW...HEAVY AT TIMES...WILL CONTINUE SATURDAY ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS AND ADJACENT PLAINS...POSSIBLY MIXING WITH RAIN AT TIMES ACROSS THE LOWER ELEVATIONS IN THE AFTERNOON. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 8 TO 18 INCHES...WITH LOCALLY HIGH AMOUNTS ON EAST FACING SLOPES...CAN BE EXPECTED BY SATURDAY EVENING ACROSS THE PIKES PEAK AND RAMPART RANGE...THE WET AND SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS...AND THE COLLEGIATE AND EASTERN SAWATCH RANGES. TOTAL SNOW FALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES EXPECTED ACROSS THE EASTERN SAN JUAN AND LA GARITA MOUNTAINS...AS WELL AS AREAS ON AND ALONG THE PALMER DIVIDE AND RATON MESA. UNSEASONABLE COOL TEMPERATURES...ALONG WITH A CHANCE OF ACCUMULATING SNOWS...WILL PERSIST SUNDAY...BEFORE AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS ACROSS THE REGION MONDAY...ALLOWING FOR A WARMING AND DRYING TREND ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER CONDITIONS THAT MEET REPORTING CRITERIA FOR SPOTTERS WILL BE LIKELY TONIGHT.
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, Eastern Sawatch Mountains Above 11000 Ft | 2004-04-09 | 24 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, April 2004
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: 5391301.