An avalanche broke on a 40-degree slope of Taylor Mountain and ran for one mile down 2,000 vertical feet killing one skier and injuring another. The injured skier survived by swimming through the snow and keeping his hands above the snow as the avalanche carried him down the east slope of Taylor Mountain.
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 RIW wrote it up.
An avalanche broke on a 40-degree slope of Taylor Mountain and ran for one mile down 2,000 vertical feet killing one skier and injuring another. The injured skier survived by swimming through the snow and keeping his hands above the snow as the avalanche carried him down the east slope of Taylor Mountain. The avalanche debris covered approximately 40 acres in the Taylor Mountain/Coal Creek Drainage.
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 Riverton, WY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 5, 3:01 AM MST, 10 hours 19 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY 301 AM MST THU JAN 5 2006 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT... SKIES CLEARED RAPIDLY OVERNIGHT THROUGHOUT OUR CWFA AS THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILT IN BEHIND THE DEPARTING SHORTWAVE. MAINTAINED THE FOG GRIDS IN THE WESTERN VALLEYS/BASINS DUE TO THE CLEAR SKIES...LOW LEVEL MOISTURE FROM THE SNOW COVER...BUILDING HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT... AND A WARMING TREND ALOFT INDICATED BY INCREASING THICKNESS VALUES THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. ALSO THE TEMP/DEWPOINT DEPRESSION AT JACKSON HAS BOUNCED AROUND FROM ZERO TO -2...AND THE SATELLITE FOG PRODUCT SHOWED AREAS OF FOG DEVELOPING IN YNP. INCLUDED THAT INFO IN THE HWO AND SAB. THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE AND DRY NW FLOW ALOFT DOMINATES OUR WEATHER TODAY THROUGH MID FRIDAY...WITH A WARMING TREND INDICATED BY INCREASING 1000/500 THICKNESSES. THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW BACKS TO WEST FRIDAY AS A STRONG SHORTWAVE AND CLOSED LOW ALOFT MOVE ONSHORE AND DIG OVER CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. THAT OPENS THE DOOR FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF PACIFIC MOISTURE AND WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT...BRINGING PERIODS OF SNOW TO THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS FROM FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE SHORT TERM. 2 TO 4 INCHES ARE EXPECTED OVER THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS SATURDAY MORNING...FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER 1 TO 2 INCHES SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A SNOW ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED BY LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON OR EVENING FOR THIS EVENT...UNLESS THE SYSTEM WEAKENS OR DIVES SOUTH. .LONG TERM...SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY... SOME SIGNIFICANT MODEL DIFFERENCES FOR THIS NEXT SYSTEM SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT. THE GFS BRINGS A DECENT OPEN WAVE RIGHT THROUGH THE STATE WHILE THE EUROPEAN DROPS A STRONGER SYSTEM THROUGH UTAH AND INTO SERN CO BY MONDAY AFTERNOON. THE UKMET IS SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN. HAVE OPTED TO LEAN TOWARDS THE EUROPEAN FOR NOW AND KEEP BEST PRECIPITATION CHANCES TO THE WEST. THIS SYSTEM THAT COMES THROUGH SUNDAY WILL BE THE REMNANTS OF POTENT ALEUTIAN LOW CURRENTLY ALONG THE WESTERN EDGE OF THIS CHAIN. IT THEN LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER SHORTWAVE WILL MOVE QUICKLY ACROSS THE NORTHERN ROCKIES ON TUESDAY KEEPING SNOW GOING IN THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS WITH AT LEAST A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS ACROSS THE FAR NORTH ALSO. AFTER THAT...ALL MODELS ARE SHOWING A MOIST ZONAL FLOW WITH SEVERAL DAYS OF SNOW OUT WEST WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL. IN THE EAST...IT WILL GENERALLY BE WINDY WITH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES. STARTED EDGING TEMPERATURES UP TO INDICATE FULLY MIXED ATMOSPHERE AND LACK OF SNOW COVER. && .RIW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && SHORT TERM...CF LONG TERM...SKRBAC
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY 500 AM MST THU JAN 5 2006 WYZ001>020-022>030-061300- ABSAROKA MOUNTAINS-BIGHORN MOUNTAINS SOUTHEAST- BIGHORN MOUNTAINS WEST-CASPER MOUNTAIN-CODY FOOTHILLS- EAST SWEETWATER COUNTY-FLAMING GORGE- GREEN MOUNTAINS AND RATTLESNAKE RANGE-JACKSON HOLE-LANDER FOOTHILLS- NATRONA COUNTY LOWER ELEVATIONS-NORTH BIG HORN BASIN- NORTHEAST JOHNSON COUNTY-OWL CREEK AND BRIDGER MOUNTAINS- ROCK SPRINGS AND GREEN RIVER-SALT RIVER AND WYOMING RANGES- SOUTH LINCOLN COUNTY-SOUTHEAST BIG HORN BASIN- SOUTHEAST JOHNSON COUNTY-SOUTHWEST BIG HORN BASIN-STAR VALLEY- TETON AND GROS VENTRE MOUNTAINS-UPPER GREEN RIVER BASIN- UPPER GREEN RIVER BASIN FOOTHILLS-UPPER WIND RIVER BASIN- WIND RIVER BASIN-WIND RIVER MOUNTAINS EAST-WIND RIVER MOUNTAINS WEST- YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK- 500 AM MST THU JAN 5 2006 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AREAS OF FOG AND LIMITED VISIBILITY ARE EXPECTED THIS MORNING OVER THE GREEN RIVER BASIN...STAR VALLEY...JACKSON HOLE...AND PARTS OF YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. THE FOG SHOULD DISSIPATE BY MID TO LATE MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY AN ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN WILL BRING SEVERAL WEATHER SYSTEMS THROUGH WESTERN WYOMING FROM LATE THIS WEEKEND THROUGH AT LEAST THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. THE FIRST SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN WYOMING SATURDAY NIGHT OR SUNDAY WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL. ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY...A MOIST WESTERLY FLOW IS EXPECTED TO BRING AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF SNOWFALL...POSSIBLY HEAVY AT TIMES...TO WESTERN WYOMING. STAY TUNED FOR DAILY UPDATES AND FUTURE STATEMENTS ON THIS ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN FOR WESTERN WYOMING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY AND TONIGHT. TRIW
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, Teton & Gros Ventre Mountains | 2006-01-05 | 1 | Female | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wyoming in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, January 2006
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: 5489374.