Name: Avalanche in Washington, March 19, 2006
Start: 2006-03-19T13:30
End: 2006-03-19T13:30
Location: Washington

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 1
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 OTX wrote it up.

An avalanche occurred about 20 miles west of Conconully in the Brown's Meadow area below Tiffany Mountain. The avalanche was human caused and buried a person under about 30 inches of snow for four hours.

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 Spokane, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 19, 10:01 AM PST, 3 hours 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 19, 10:01 AM PST, 3 hours 29 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA
1001 AM PST SUN MAR 19 2006

.SYNOPSIS...THE REGIONAL WEATHER WILL QUIET DOWN FOR A COUPLE DAYS
BEFORE THE NEXT NOTABLE ROUND OF SHOWERS MOVES INTO THE REGION
TUESDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN AROUND NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF
YEAR.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
REST OF TODAY...FORECAST AREA IS LARGELY BETWEEN WEATHER SYSTEMS
TODAY. SATELLITE INDICATES INCOMING MOISTURE FROM THE EAST WILL
ENCOUNTER THE BITTERROOT CREST AND MAY PRODUCE SOME SNOW SHOWERS AND
CLOUDS ALONG THE IDAHO MONTANA BORDER...BUT THIS EASTERLY FLOW WILL
LIKELY DOWNSLOPE ON THE IDAHO SIDE OF THE CREST WITH DECREASING
CLOUDS WITH DISTANCE TO THE WEST. A DRY CONTINENTAL POLAR AIR MASS
WILL ALSO SQUEEZE THROUGH THE PURCELL TRENCH AND OKANOGAN VALLEY FOR
LOCALLY BREEZY CONDITIONS TODAY. OTHERWISE NO SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
AFTER MORNING FOG AND STRATUS BURN AWAY. MINOR UPDATE TO ZFP TO
ADJUST FOG AND MOUNTAIN SHOWER WORDING AND TWEAK EXPECTED HIGH
TEMPERATURES. NO UPDATE TO STATE FORECAST PRODUCT NEEDED./FUGAZZI

&&

.AVIATION...THE ONLY IFR CONDITIONS THIS MORNING WILL BE IN THE
VICINITY OF KPUW DUE TO EARLY MORNING FOG AND LOW CLOUDS BUT THIS
SHOULD DISSIPATE BY AROUND 20-22Z. OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS WILL
BE ACROSS MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA INTO MONDAY MORNING. DUE TO AN
EASTERLY FETCH OF MOISTURE ACROSS THE BITTERROOT RANGE...THERE WILL
BE SOME MVFR CEILINGS AND MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS DUE TO CEILINGS.
THIS PATTERN WILL BE ACROSS EXTREME EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH
IDAHO INTO MONDAY MORNING.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
SPOKANE        48  27  46  32  46  31 /  10   0   0  10  20  20
COEUR DALENE  45  28  45  31  46  29 /  10   0   0  10  30  20
PULLMAN        45  27  47  32  47  33 /  10   0   0  20  40  20
LEWISTON       51  31  51  36  50  35 /  10  10   0  20  50  20
COLVILLE       45  26  49  26  50  29 /  10   0   0   0   0  20
SANDPOINT      45  29  47  27  49  27 /  10   0   0   0  10  20
KELLOGG        42  28  50  28  52  31 /  20  10  10  20  40  20
MOSES LAKE     55  27  52  32  52  33 /  10   0   0   0  10  10
WENATCHEE      51  31  51  35  51  36 /  10   0   0   0   0  20
OMAK           52  27  52  30  52  30 /  10   0   0   0   0  20

&&

.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...NONE.
WA...NONE.
&&

Event by event

1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.

Avalanche, East Slopes Northern Cascades

When: March 19, 1:30 PM PST
Where: East Slopes Northern Cascades forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

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, East Slopes Northern Cascades	2006-03-19	17	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 Washington in 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, March 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: 5493887.