A local skier was killed when a cornice collapsed at Snoqualmie Pass.
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 local skier was killed when a cornice collapsed at Snoqualmie Pass.
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 Feb 1, 9:30 AM PST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
930 AM PST TUE FEB 1 2011
.SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE JUST OFFSHORE COMBINED WITH HIGH
PRESSURE OVER EASTERN WASHINGTON WILL GIVE CLEAR SKIES TO THE AREA
WITH TEMPERATURES A LITTLE COOLER THAN NORMAL. A FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL
MOVE INTO WESTERN WASHINGTON THURSDAY AND STALL OVER THE AREA
THROUGH THE WEEKEND...GIVING CLOUDS AND PERIODS OF LIGHT
RAIN...ESPECIALLY TO THE COAST AND MOUNTAINS.
&&
.SHORT TERM...A SHARP UPPER RIDGE AXIS NEAR 130W AND SURFACE HIGH
PRESSURE WITH DRY OFFSHORE FLOW WILL ALL COMBINE FOR A CLEAR...COOL
AND DRY DAY FOR WRN WA. CERTAINLY MUCH QUIETER HERE THAN OTHER PARTS
OF THE NATION GRAPPLING WITH A HISTORIC STORM. THE QUIET PATTERN
HERE WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT AND WED. OTHERWISE...THE SEA-EAT
PRES GRADIENT RIGHT NOW IS -6.4 MB...SO BREEZY GAP WINDS HAVE
RESULTED IN FAMILIAR PLACES NEAR THE FOOTHILLS...BUT IT SHOULD NOT
TURN INTO ANYTHING EXCEPTIONAL.
LATER WED...THE UPPER RIDGE AXIS WILL DO A FLOP-OVER ROUTINE AND
START TO FLATTEN. AS FLOW ALOFT BACKS FROM NORTHERLY TO
WEST-NORTHWEST...MOISTURE WILL ADVECT IN...AND VERTICAL LIFT WILL
TAKE PLACE OVER THE COOL AIR MASS THAT IS IN PLACE. THE RESULT WILL
BE WARM FRONTAL RAIN SPREADING IN FROM THE NORTHWEST DURING THE DAY
ON THU AND THEN PERSISTING ON THU NIGHT AND FRI. BY THE TIME RAIN
ARRIVES...THE LOW-LEVEL AIR MASS SHOULD HAVE MODIFIED ENOUGH FOR
KEEP THE PRECIP PHASE OVER THE LOWLANDS AS LIQUID...IE RAIN. HANER
.LONG TERM...FROM PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...TO VARYING DEGREES...ALL OF
THE MODEL GUIDANCE STALLS A FRONTAL SYSTEM ACROSS WESTERN WASHINGTON
THU NIGHT THROUGH SAT NIGHT OR SUN WITH PERIODS OF LIGHT RAIN. THE
ECMWF IS THE WETTEST AND MOST CONSISTENT OF THE MODELS OF LATE. THE
CANADIAN AND GFS SOLUTIONS AS WELL AS THE TAIL END OF THE NAM12 SHOW
THE SAME FEATURES...BUT SHOW LESS QPF WHILE KEEPING THE
PRECIPITATION 50-100 MILES FARTHER NORTH THAN THE ECMWF. WILL
GENERALLY LEAN TOWARD THE ECMWF THAT HAS HIGH POPS ON THE OLYMPIC
PENINSULA AND IN THE NORTH CASCADES...LOWER POPS FARTHER SOUTH...AND
PLENTY OF CLOUD COVER. LATER IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD...SUN
NIGHT...THE CANADIAN AND ECMWF SOLUTIONS BOTH SHOW A 1045-1060 MB
HIGH FORMING OVER BC THAT EVENTUALLY SLIDES SE INTO THE NORTHERN
PLAINS STATES. THE HIGH APPEARS STRONG ENOUGH THAT SOME OUTFLOW WILL
REACH THE NORTH INTERIOR SUN NIGHT OR MON...BUT WITH ONLY SHALLOW
COLD AIR REACHING WESTERN WASHINGTON. THE GFS IS SHOWING RATHER POOR
CONTINUITY WITH THE DETAILS WITH THE 06Z SOLUTION COMING IN WITH
HIGHER HEIGHTS ALOFT AND KEEPING THE HIGH MAINLY E OF THE
CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. CHANGES TO THE LONG TERM FORECAST WERE LIMITED
TO THE FRI THROUGH SUN PERIOD FOR MORE CLOUDS AND HIGHER POPS.
ALBRECHT
&&
.HYDROLOGY...FROM PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...PERIODS OF RAIN ARE EXPECTED
ALONG THE COAST AND IN THE MOUNTAINS THU THROUGH SUN. FREEZING
LEVELS WILL RANGE FROM 5000 FEET IN THE CASCADES AND 7000 FEET IN
THE OLYMPICS ON FRI. THE FREEZING LEVELS WILL DROP TO 5000 FEET IN
THE OLYMPICS AND 3000 FEET IN THE CASCADES BY SUN. WHILE
PRECIPITATION IN THE MOUNTAINS WILL RESULT IN SOME RISES ON WESTERN
WASHINGTON RIVERS...RAINFALL AMOUNTS DO NOT APPEAR THAT THEY WILL BE
SUFFICIENT TO PRODUCE ANY FLOODING... INCLUDING ON THE GREEN.
ALBRECHT
&&
.AVIATION...UPPER RIDGE OVR PACNW. ATMOSPHERE STABLE AND MAINLY
DRY...EXCEPT HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE AT TIMES...MNLY COAST TDY. THERE IS
ALSO AN AREA OF LOW CLOUDS ON THE NORTH COAST...AND THAT EXTENDS
SOUTH TO JUST OFF GRAYS HARBOR. PLUS MORNING FOG IN THE RIVER
VALLEYS WEST SIDE OF THE OLYMPICS...AND ONE LAST PATCH OF CLOUDS IN
SE THURSTON COUNTY. ELSEWHERE SUNNY TODAY. LOW LEVEL OFFSHORE FLOW
WILL PERSIST WITH HIGHER SURFACE PRES E OF THE CASCADES. 19
KSEA...ELY BREEZE BECOMING MORE NLY LATER IN THE DAY.
&&
.MARINE...HIGH PRES E OF THE CASCADES GVG OFFSHORE FLOW THROUGH WED.
GRADIENTS THROUGH THE STRAIT WILL SUPPORT SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY
WINDS AT THE W ENTRANCE TO THE STRAIT. WARM FRONT BRUSHES THE AREA
THU...AND STRONGER ONSHORE FLOW IS POSSIBLE LATER IN THE
WEEK...ALTHOUGH THE MODELS HAVE BEEN TRENDING WEAKER. 19
&&
.SEW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...NONE.
PZ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY WEST ENTRANCE STRAIT OF JUAN DE
FUCA.
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
A local skier was killed when a cornice collapsed at Snoqualmie Pass.
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 | 2011-02-01 | Female | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, February 2011
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: 297971.