Just north of the Mount Baker ski area, 2 snowmobilers died and 1 was injured in an avalanche. Strong winds accompanied this weather event in portions of western Washington as well.
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 SEW wrote it up.
Just north of the Mount Baker ski area, 2 snowmobilers died and 1 was injured in an avalanche. Strong winds accompanied this weather event in portions of western Washington as well.
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 Seattle, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 1, 2:30 AM PST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA 230 AM PST TUE JAN 01 2008 .SYNOPSIS...A FRONT OFFSHORE WILL SPREAD CLOUDS OVER WESTERN WASHINGTON TODAY AND BRING RAIN TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. PERSISTENT SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL BRING ONE SYSTEM AFTER ANOTHER INTO THE REGION THROUGH SUNDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE MILD EARLY IN THE WEEK. LATER IN THE WEEK LOWER TEMPERATURES AND SNOW LEVEL WILL PREVAIL. && .SHORT TERM...GOOD EASTERLY GRADIENT OVER THE CASCADES AND SOME EFFECTS ALREADY IN EVIDENCE. FOR ONE...TEMPERATURES ARE SURPRISINGLY MILD TONIGHT UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DOWNSLOPE WARMING. SOME PLACES ARE STILL IN THE 40S THOUGH SHELTERED SPOTS HAVE SLIPPED BELOW FREEZING. FOR ANOTHER...BREEZY CONDITIONS NOTED ON RIDGETOPS IN THE CASCADES AND THESE WINDS ARE LIKELY TO SPILL INTO THE EAST PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS. WILL ISSUE A WIND ADVISORY FOR THAT AREA FOR TODAY INTO THIS EVENING. RAIN WILL SPREAD OVER THE AREA TONIGHT AS OFFSHORE SYSTEM MAKES ITS WAY INLAND. THEN MORE SYSTEMS COME THROUGH OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. TEMPS LIKELY TO BE IN THE MID TO UPPER 40S AND EVEN PUSH 50 OCCASIONALLY AS HEIGHTS REMAIN HIGH AND WARM ADVECTION KEEPS BRINGING WARMISH AIR TO THE AREA. OVERNIGHT LOWS NOT LIKELY TO DROP BELOW FREEZING. IN GENERAL THE PATTERN IS WET AND NOWHERE NEAR AS COLD AS LATTER PART OF DECEMBER WAS. BURKE .LONG TERM...HAVE KEPT THE BROAD BRUSH IDEA AS MODELS BRING A SERIES OF SYSTEMS THROUGH WESTERN WASHINGTON. A DEEP LOW IS OFTEN JUST OFFSHORE WITH THESE STORMS SO AREA WILL BE WINDY OR BREEZY AT TIMES AS WELL AS WET. TEMPS RETURN TO MORE SEASONAL NORMS AS HEIGHTS FALL. COULD BE A LITTLE SNOW AT TIMES BUT TRYING TO PINPOINT IT CLEARLY PREMATURE AT THIS TIME. BURKE && .AVIATION...OFFSHORE PRES GRADIENTS HAVE STRENGTHENED SIGNIFICANTLY OVERNIGHT AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE STRONG THROUGH THIS EVENING. THIS WILL KEEP CEILINGS HIGH AND ANY PRECIPITATION THAT MOVES IN LATER TONIGHT WILL BE QUITE LIGHT. STRONG EAST WIND 13035KT AROUND 015 MAY POKE OUT TO KSEA AND KBFI BUT OTHER TERMINALS SHOULD NOT BE AFFECTED (PIC8). WILL INCLUDE A LOW LEVEL WIND SHEAR GROUP 14Z-21Z FOR THAT AT KBFI AND KSEA. AT KSEA...ISSUE OF THE DAY WILL BE LOW LEVEL WIND SHEAR AS E WIND 5 TO 10 KT RISES SHARPLY TO 13035KT AT 015. LLWS WILL BECOME LESS OF AN ISSUE IN THE AFTERNOON AS LOW LEVEL FLOW TURNS SE AND INCREASES SOMEWHAT. ALBRECHT && .MARINE...LOW LEVEL OFFSHORE FLOW WITH GALE COAST AND WEST ENTRANCE...SCA CONDITIONS ELSEWHERE IN THE STRAIT...ADMIRALTY INLET AND THE NORTH INLAND WATERS. CONDITIONS WILL RELAX BEHIND THE FRONTAL SYSTEM THAT PASSES WED MORNING. AFTER A FRONT PASSES THROUGH THE WATERS ON WED...COMPUTER GUIDANCE IS HAVING A DIFFICULT TIME WITH THE EXACT TRACT AND TIMING OF INDIVIDUAL SYSTEMS THAT MOVE THROUGH THE AREA. AN ACTIVE AND FAST MOVING PATTERN IS EXPECTED THROUGH WITH SURFACE PRESSURES GENERALLY FALLING BELOW 985 MB AND STRONG WAVES PASSING BY TO THE WEST. SYSTEMS COULD RAPIDLY DEVELOP AND WINDS BECOME RATHER STRONG. AT THIS TIME WILL KEEP THINGS BLUSTERY WITH SCA SELY WINDS MOST WATERS AND POSSIBLE GALES AT TIMES ON THE COAST. MARINERS SHOULD MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS CAREFULLY AND BE PREPARED FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING CONDITIONS. ALBRECHT && .SEW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .WIND ADVISORY EAST PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS TODAY AND THIS EVENING. .GALE WARNING COAST AND WEST ENTRANCE TO THE STRAIT. .SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CENTRAL STRAIT...EAST ENTRANCE TO THE STRAIT...ADMIRALTY INLET...AND NORTHERN INLAND WATERS. .SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY GRAYS HARBOR FOR ROUGH BAR CONDITIONS. WEATHER.GOV
3 high wind, 1 strong wind, 1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
Trees fell on a house and on a truck.
A spotter reported a gust to 80 mph.
Just north of the Mount Baker ski area in the Excelsior Pass area, 2 snowmobilers died and 1 was injured in an avalanche.
A spotter reported sustain winds of 45 mph with a gust to 57.
A coastal buoy had sustained winds of 58 mph.
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 Slopes Northern Cascades and Passes | 2008-01-01 | 43 | Female | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
| Avalanche, West Slopes Northern Cascades and Passes | 2008-01-01 | 63 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, January 2008
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: 74996, 74943, 74955, 74944, 74945.