Avalanche, Kuskokwim Valley
- When
- February 14, 12:00 PM AST to 6:00 PM AST
- Where
- Kuskokwim Valley forecast zone
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Avalanche in Alaska, February 14, 2006
An avalanche at Pass Creek in Rainy Pass along the Alaska Range swept a snow machine and the driver of the machine into a terrain trap burying him and resulting in his death. The Avalanche occurred while he was breaking trail through the pass for the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.
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 AFC wrote it up.
An avalanche at Pass Creek in Rainy Pass along the Alaska Range swept a snow machine and the driver of the machine into a terrain trap burying him and resulting in his death. The Avalanche occurred while he was breaking trail through the pass for the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.
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 Anchorage, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 14, 5:00 AM AST, 7 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 14, 5:00 AM AST, 7 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA 500 AM AST TUE FEB 14 2006 .DISCUSSION... UPPER LEVEL LOW IS OVER THE WESTERN BERING WHILE A BLOCKING RIDGE IS FIRMLY IN PLACE OVER CENTRAL ALASKA. THE STRONG ALEUTIAN LOW THAT BROUGHT HIGH WINDS TO THE CHAIN AND THE BERING CONTINUES TO HEAD NORTH TOWARDS SIBERIA. THE PRESSURE GRADIENT BETWEEN THE DEEP LOW AND A HIGH IN THE GULF IS KEEPING STRONG WINDS WITH GUSTS UP TO 75 MPH IN SOME AREAS IN THE EASTERN ALEUTIANS...THE AKPEN AND THE WESTERN ALASKA COAST. MODEL AGREEMENT IS GOOD IN THE EAST DOMAIN...NOT SO GOOD IN THE WEST. THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN THE PRESSURE FIELD IN THE WESTERN BERING BY 24 HOURS OUT. UKMET PICKS UP ON A 984 MB CLOSED LOW WHERE THE NAM AND GFS HAVE THE MAIN LOW AT ONLY 1001 MB AND ABOUT 500 MILES TO THE SOUTHWEST. OVERALL THOUGH...MODELS SHOW THE STORM TRACK KEEPING TO THE WEST WITH A RIDGE STAYING OVER THE EAST. AS THE UPPER LEVEL BLOCKING RIDGE STAYS RELATIVELY STATIONARY OVER CENTRAL AND EASTERN ALASKA THROUGH THE WEEK...LOOK FOR HIGH PRESSURE TO DOMINATE THE EASTERN DOMAIN BRINGING LIGHTER WINDS AND CLEARER SKIES. HOWEVER WITH THE TROUGH OVER THE BERING NUDGING RIGHT UP NEXT TO THE HIGH...SOME PRECIPITATION COULD INTERMITTENTLY PUSH INTO THE WESTERN PART OF THE EAST DOMAIN. BY THE WEEKEND THE RIDGE HAS BEEN PUSHED EAST ENOUGH TO ALLOW FOR AN INCREASE IN CLOUD COVER AND CHANCES FOR PRECIP. OUT WEST...WITH THE LOW HEADING NORTH...MOST WINDS HAVE DROPPED BELOW THE WARNING CRITERIA...THEREFORE CANCELING THE HIGH WIND WARNINGS THAT WERE IN EFFECT SINCE YESTERDAY. LOOK FOR CONTINUED STRONG WINDS THROUGH TOMORROW MORNING WHEN THE PRESENT SYSTEM MOVES INLAND OVER SIBERIA. A SERIES OF NORTH PACIFIC LOWS WILL BE MOVING OVER THE ALEUTIANS AND INTO THE BERING THROUGH THE WEEK. ONE PARTICULAR LOW LOOKS TO HAVE ITS FETCH ALIGNED PERPENDICULAR WITH THE YUKON AND KUSKOKWIM DELTAS ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT TO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR COASTAL FLOODING. THIS SITUATION WILL CONTINUE TO BE ANALYZED AS MORE MODEL RUNS AND DATA BECOME AVAILABLE. .AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY PUBLIC...NONE MARINE...GALE 130 132 150 155 160 165 170 171 172 179 180 185 FIRE WEATHER...NONE LR FEB 06
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, Kuskokwim Valley | 2006-02-14 | 46 | 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
- Wildfire in Texas, February 14, 2006
- Wildfire in Missouri, February 14, 2006
- Heavy Snow in New York, February 14, 2006
- Frost and Freeze in Florida, February 14, 2006
- Heavy Snow in Nebraska, February 14 to 16, 2006
- Heavy Snow in Wyoming, February 14 to 16, 2006
- Heavy Snow in Michigan, February 14 to 15, 2006
- Strong Wind in California, February 14 to 15, 2006
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, February 14, 2006
- Heavy Snow in Montana, February 14, 2006
More
Every storm in Alaska in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, February 2006
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: 5492879.