A climber was killed by an avalanche in a steep confined gully in the central Cascades.
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.
A climber was killed by an avalanche in a steep confined gully in the central Cascades.
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 Dec 4, 9:10 AM PST, 2 hours 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
910 AM PST SAT DEC 4 2010
.SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL DOMINATE THE WEATHER PATTERN
OVER THE AREA THROUGH MONDAY FOR GENERALLY DRY WEATHER.
MEANWHILE...STRENGTHENING...LOW LEVEL...OFFSHORE FLOW WILL RESULT IN
AREAS OF STRONG...GUSTY WINDS OVER THE EAST PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS
THROUGH SUNDAY.
&&
.SHORT TERM...LOW LEVEL OFFSHORE FLOW IN CONTROL TODAY WITH WEAK
HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT. LOW LEVEL CROSS-CASCADE EASTERLY GRADIENTS HAVE
COME UP AND HAVE ALREADY HAD A REPORT OF HIGH WIND AT ENUMCLAW. THE
EASTERLY GRADIENTS LOOK TO CONTINUE OR EVEN INCREASE A BIT LATER
TODAY/TONIGHT AND HAVE ISSUED A HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE EAST PUGET
SOUND LOWLANDS TO COVER THIS SITUATION. OTHERWISE TODAY WILL BE A
MOSTLY SUNNY DAY WITH JUST SOME HIGH CLOUDS AT TIMES.
SOUTHERLY FLOW ALOFT OVER WESTERN WASHINGTON WILL INCREASE SUNDAY AS
A CUTOFF LOW NEAR 37N 139W MOVES NORTH AND EAST AS AN OPEN WAVE.
MOISTURE ALOFT WILL BE INCREASING BUT WITH CONTINUED LOW LEVEL
OFFSHORE FLOW CURRENT CHANCE POPS FOR SUNDAY AND MONDAY MAY BE
OVERDONE. ALSO...THE FRONT APPROACHING THE COAST MONDAY APPEARS TO
BE SLOWER IN THE LATEST MODELS AND ASSOCIATED RAIN MAY HOLD OF UNTIL
LATE MONDAY NIGHT. WILL EVALUATE THESE DETAILS FURTHER WITH THE
AFTERNOON FORECAST PACKAGE. SCHNEIDER
.LONG TERM...PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...CONFIDENCE IN THE DETAILS FOR
THIS PERIOD WAS NOT HIGH. THE MAIN MESSAGE WAS THAT THE WEATHER
PATTERN WILL EVOLVE INTO A STORMIER AND WETTER ONE FOR THE PAC NW.
THERE IS A CHANCE OF SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL ON THE S OR SW SLOPES OF
THE OLYMPICS ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF THE UPCOMING WEEK.
&&
.HYDROLOGY...WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE SKOKOMISH RIVER....THERE IS
LITTLE OR NO THREAT OF FLOODING PRIOR TO SATURDAY DECEMBER 11.
A WET PATTERN WILL DEVELOP TUESDAY AND CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY
THURSDAY. HOWEVER IT IS NOT THE CLASSIC PATTERN THAT GENERALLY
PRODUCES FLOODING IN WESTERN WASHINGTON...AND IT SHOULD PRESENT A
THREAT OF FLOODING ONLY FOR THE SKOKOMISH RIVER.
THERE IS A LOW CHANCE...MAYBE 30 PERCENT...THE SKOKOMISH RIVER WILL
FLOOD SOMETIME WEDNESDAY OR THURSDAY. SOME MODELS SHOW MORE THAN 4
INCHES OF RAIN OVER THAT BASIN DURING THE 36 HOUR PERIOD FROM
TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THAT IS NOTHING
EXTRAORDINARY FOR THE SOUTH SLOPES OF THE OLYMPICS...BUT THE
SKOKOMISH COULD FLOOD IF A GOOD CHUNK OF THAT RAIN FALLS IN SHORTER
PART OF THAT PERIOD. AT PRESENT...THE HEAVIER RAINS ARE FORECAST TO
FALL TUESDAY NIGHT...FOLLOWED BY A RELATIVE LULL WEDNESDAY...THEN
ANOTHER ROUND OF HEAVIER RAIN WEDNESDAY NIGHT. IT IS ALSO POSSIBLE
THAT THE ACCUMULATION OF THAT MUCH RAIN OVER 36 HOURS COULD
GRADUALLY DRIVE THE RIVER TO FLOOD STAGE LATE IN THE WEEK.
LOOKING FURTHER AHEAD...PAST RUNS OF THE LONG RANGE MODELS HAVE BEEN
SHOWING A POTENTIAL CLASSIC FLOODING PATTERN DEVELOPING NEXT WEEKEND
INTO EARLY THE FOLLOWING WEEK. HOWEVER...THERE IS STILL MUCH
UNCERTAINTY AS TO HOW MUCH OF THIS HEAVY RAIN WILL DEVELOP AND WHERE
IS WILL BE FOCUSED.
RECENT RUNS OF THE ECMWF HAVE MOST OF THE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION
GOING INLAND TO THE SOUTH...SUGGESTING LITTLE IF ANY FLOODING FOR
MOST OF WESTERN WASHINGTON. THE GFS...WHICH HAS BEEN THE WETTER
MODEL...HAS BEEN WAFFLING AROUND WITH SOME RUNS SHOWING
PRECIPITATION FARTHER SOUTH AND SOME FARTHER NORTH AGAIN. THE LATEST
12Z GFS HAS ONCE AGAIN JOGGED A LITTLE FARTHER NORTH WITH POTENTIAL
FLOODING RAINS FOR WESTERN WASHINGTON...ESPECIALLY OVER THE SOUTHERN
HALF...FROM SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT.
WITH ALL THAT...THERE IS STILL A CHANCE A FLOOD PATTERN COULD SET UP
IN THE DAY 7-10 TIMEFRAME. HOWEVER...GIVEN THE MODEL DIFFERENCES AND
THE INHERENT LARGE UNCERTAINTY AT THIS POINT...CONFIDENCE IN THE
FORECAST IS LOW. THIS DEVELOPING SITUATION WILL NEED TO BE
MONITORED. SCHNEIDER
&&
.AVIATION...THERE IS A RIDGE OVER WESTERN NORTH AMERICA WITH A CUT
OFF LOW WELL OFF CALIF...THE RIDGE WILL SHIFT INLAND AND SLY FLOW
ALOFT WILL DIRECT INCREASING MID AND HIGH CLOUDS INTO THE REGION
THROUGH SUN. DRY OFFSHORE FLOW WITH DRY AIR EXCEPT SOME HIGH CLOUDS
AND A FEW PATCHES OF MORNING FOG...BUT MOSTLY A DRY FROSTY MORNING
THEN SUNNY. THE EXCEPTION IS AN AREA OF CLOUDS OVER THE NORTH PART
OF THE OLYMPICS/STRAIT AROUND PORT ANGELES WHERE THE NE FLOW MUST BE
GIVING A LITTLE UPSLOPE...SO WILL WATCH HOW THAT GOES AND THE
CURRENT TAF SHOWS IT WILL SCATTER OUT BY MIDDAY. EAST OF THE
CASCADES THERE AREA ALSO AREAS OF STRATUS TRAPPED...AND I SUPPOSE
SOME OF THIS COULD PUSH WWD INTO THE CASCADE PASSES AND THE CREST AT
TIMES. THE FIRST GOOD VISIBLE SATELLITE PICTURE OUGHT TO SHOW IT
WELL. 19
KSEA...AS THE RIDGE MOVES INLAND AND SLY FLOW ALOFT INCREASES THERE
WILL BE MID AND HIGH CLOUDS...BUT THE LOW LEVEL OFFSHORE FLOW AND
DEW POINTS BELOW FREEZING SO NO PROBLEMS...THE SEA-YKM OS -5MB SO
THE BREEZE SHOULD REMAIN NNE RATHER THAN GO EAST...BUT THAT GRADIENT
WILL CLIMB THROUGH SUN MORNING SO THERE IS A PRETTY GOOD CHANCE THAT
BY 12Z SUN THE WIND BECOMES 10015KT. 19
&&
.MARINE...UIL-BLI GRADIENT IS -4MB AND THAT WILL CLIMB A NOTCH
FURTHER THROUGH DAYBREAK SUNDAY SO A GALE WARNING FOR THE WEST
ENTRANCE TO THE STRAIT AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS LOOKS GOOD.
ELSEWHERE THE OFFSHORE FLOW IS STRONG ENOUGH TO CAUSE SMALL CRAFT
ADVISORY WINDS AT TIMES TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY IN ALL THE COASTAL
ZONES AND IN THE CENTRAL STRAIT. MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY WILL BE AN
ACTIVE PERIOD WITH SEVERAL FRONTS AND LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS GRAZING
THE REGION. OCCASIONAL GALES ARE A GOOD BET OVER THE COASTAL WATERS
AND PARTS OF THE INLAND WATERS AT TIMES DURING THIS PERIOD. 19
&&
.SEW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...HIGH WIND WARNING EAST PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS.
PZ...GALE WARNING WEST ENTRANCE TO THE STRAIT AND THE ADJACENT
COASTAL WATERS ZONE...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINING COASTAL
WATERS AND CENTRAL STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA.
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLEPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
759 AM PST SAT DEC 04 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0758 AM NON-TSTM WND GST 4 WNW ENUMCLAW 47.23N 122.06W
12/04/2010 M66 MPH KING WA TRAINED SPOTTER
40 MPH WITH A PEAK GUST OF 66 MPH.
&&
191 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
A climber was killed by an avalanche in a steep confined gully in the central Cascades.
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 Central Cascades and Passes | 2010-12-04 | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, December 2010
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: 297970.