Utah, 2008Avalanche in Utah, December 30, 2008
December 30, 2008 · NWS SLC · 1 event in 1 county or zone
An avalanche in the western Uinta Mountains caught and killed one snowmobiler.
- 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.
An avalanche in the western Uinta Mountains caught and killed one snowmobiler.
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 Salt Lake City, UT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 30, 10:05 AM MST, 5 hours 55 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 30, 10:05 AM MST, 5 hours 55 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
1005 AM MST TUE DEC 30 2008
.SYNOPSIS...A WEAK WEATHER DISTURBANCE WILL EXIT NORTHERN UTAH THIS
MORNING...FOLLOWED BY A RETURN OF HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT THIS AFTERNOON
AND TONIGHT. A SERIES OF FAST MOVING STORM SYSTEMS ARE FORECAST TO
CROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF UTAH BEGINNING WEDNESDAY.
&&
.DISCUSSION...THE LOW AMPLITUDE WESTERLIES CURRENTLY ACROSS THE ERN
PACIFIC THROUGH WRN CONUS LOOK TO REMAIN IN PLACE HEADING INTO THE
FIRST HALF OF THE WEEKEND. FAST-MOVING SHORTWAVES EMBEDDED WITHIN
THE WESTERLIES WILL BRING PERIODS OF LIGHT PRECIP TO THE FAR NRN
UTAH ZONES WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY. WEAK DYNAMIC LIFT AND THERMAL
ADVECTION ASSOCIATED WITH THESE PASSING FEATURES INDICATE LIGHT
PRECIP AT BEST NEAR THE IDAHO BORDER REGION.
A MORE SUBSTANTIAL FEATURE WILL REACH THE NRN HALF OF UTAH LATE
FRIDAY. INITIALLY...THE BEST THERMAL/DYNAMIC LIFT WILL CROSS THE NRN
THIRD OF UTAH FRIDAY NIGHT. A TRAILING SECONDARY SYSTEM WILL SPLIT
HARD ALONG THE WEST COAST...THEN TRACK SE INTO THE SRN GREAT
BASIN/DESERT SW LATE SATURDAY/SUNDAY. THE ECMWF SOLUTION TAKES THIS
FEATURE EAST ALONG THE UT/AZ BORDER...WHILE THE GFS DRAGS THE CENTER
OF THE FEATURE WELL SOUTH INTO AZ. THE TRACK WILL BE IMPORTANT AS TO
HOW FAR NORTH PRECIP WILL REACH INTO SRN UTAH. SOMEWHAT CONCERNED
THAT WITH THE SPLIT OFF THE COAST THE SYSTEM WILL TRACK FURTHER
SOUTH AS IT MOVES THROUGH THE REGION...MUCH LIKE THE GFS SOLUTION.
CURRENT FORECAST HAS WIDESPREAD CHANCE POPS OVER THE SOUTH...WHICH
LOOKS FINE FOR NOW.
A LOW AMPLITUDE RIDGE OVER THE ERN PACIFIC EARLY NEXT WEEK WILL
MAINTAIN A STRONG AND MOIST NW FLOW ACROSS THE BASIN. A SERIES OF
QUICK-HITTING SHORTWAVES WILL BRING PRECIP TO THE NRN HALF OF
UTAH...THOUGH NONE OF THESE FEATURES LOOKS TO GENERATE HEAVY PRECIP
THROUGH NEXT WEEK.
NO UPDATE PLANNED THIS MORNING.
&&
.AVIATION...THE SLC TERMINAL WILL SEE VFR CONDITIONS WITH SCATTERED
CLOUDS TODAY. SOUTHEAST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO SHIFT TO THE NORTHWEST
BETWEEN 18Z AND 20Z.
&&
.SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
UT...NONE.
WY...NONE.
&&
PUBLIC...CONGER
AVIATION...TRAPHAGAN
FOR MORE INFORMATION FROM NOAA/S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE VISIT...
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/SALTLAKECITY (ALL LOWER CASE)
Avalanche, Western Uinta Mountains
- When
- December 30, 4:00 PM MST
- Where
- Western Uinta Mountains forecast zone
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- State Official
A father and his three sons left the Bear River Service trailhead in the Western Uinta Mountains for a day of snowmobiling on the morning of December 30th. They eventually made their way to Yamaha Hill (which Utah riders call Avalanche Hill), where one of the sons triggered a large avalanche. He got carried by the avalanche and was killed.
- 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.
- High Wind in Colorado, December 30, 2008$2.0 million · 70 kt wind · 3 events
- High Wind in Washington, December 30 to 31, 2008$450,000 · 66 kt wind · 4 events
- Winter Storm in New York, December 30 to 31, 2008$165,000 · 16 events
- Strong Wind in New York, December 30, 2008$81,000 · 27 events
- Strong Wind in New Jersey, December 30, 2008$12,000 · 12 events
- Winter Storm in Minnesota, December 30, 200812 events
- High Wind in South Dakota, December 30, 200861 kt wind · 11 events
- Strong Wind in Pennsylvania, December 30, 2008$2,000 · 8 events
- Winter Storm in Wisconsin, December 30, 20086 events
- Strong Wind in Vermont, December 30, 2008$11,000 · 3 events
- Heavy Snow in Minnesota, December 30, 20084 events
- High Wind in Nebraska, December 30, 200853 kt wind · 4 events
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: 147850.