Name: Avalanche in Montana, January 14, 2006
Start: 2006-01-14T15:00
End: 2006-01-14T15:00
Location: Montana

Where it happened

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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 2
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 MSO wrote it up.

Three snowmobilers were caught in a massive avalanche at Red Meadow Lake near Olney. One person survived, while two others perished. One of the fatalities was the result of injuries sustained in the incident. The other was caused by suffocation, a result of being buried.

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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 14, 2:43 PM MST, 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 14, 2:43 PM MST, 17 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 14, 2:14 PM MST, 46 minutes before

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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.

Avalanche, West Glacier Region

When: January 14, 3:00 PM MST
Where: West Glacier Region forecast zone
Deaths: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 47.971, -114.069 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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, West Glacier Region	2006-01-14	22	Female	Outside/Open Areas	Direct
Avalanche, West Glacier Region	2006-01-14	21	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

More

Every storm in Montana in 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, January 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5487676.