Avalanche in Alaska, January 24 to 25, 2014

Name: Avalanche in Alaska, January 24 to 25, 2014
Start: 2014-01-24T12:00
End: 2014-01-25T13:00
Location: Alaska

January 24 to 25, 2014 · NWS AFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $5,000
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.

What happened

The episode as NWS AFC wrote it up.

A very warm and wet weather pattern for a couple of weeks over South Central Alaska resulted in numerous avalanches in the Chugach Mountains. Of note was the avalanche down snow slide gulch about 16 miles northeast of Valdez. Rainfall of 5 to 6 inches in the days prior to the avalanches down snow slide gulch are likely the reason these avalanches were so massive. The first avalanche occurred on the afternoon of January 24th resulted in nearly 40 feet of snow blocking the Lowe River and Richardson Highway. This resulted in the water to damming behind the avalanche about 1 to 1.5 miles upstream across the Richardson Highway. This was followed by a larger avalanche the afternoon of the 25th that added to the previous snow depth increasing the blockage to over 70 feet of snow. The lake formed behind the avalanche took over 5 days to drain low enough to allow DOT crews to begin removing the avalanche snow from the road. The only known damages from this were some road signs and guard rail damaged. The cost for removal of the snow to reopen the road was in the thousands of dollars.

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 Anchorage, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 24, 5:00 AM AKST, 7 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 24, 5:00 AM AKST, 7 hours before

SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK
500 AM AKST FRI JAN 24 2014

.ANALYSIS AND UPPER LEVELS...

PERSISTENT UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OVER THE PAC NW EXTENDS ACROSS ALL OF
MAINLAND AK THIS MORNING. AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH OVER SIBERIA EXTENDS
SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE ENTIRE BERING AND INTO THE NORTH PACIFIC. IN
BETWEEN THESE FEATURES IS A 150 KT JET OVER KODIAK ISLAND HEADING
GENERALLY NORTHEAST TO THE SUSITNA VALLEY. THIS IS ACCOMPANYING THE
FIREHOSE OF MOISTURE INTO THE NORTHERN GULF OF AK...KENAI
PENINSULA...AND PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND.

A WEAKENING CUTOFF LOW IS ALSO OVER THE CENTRAL ALEUTIANS...AND
ANOTHER IS AT 40 N WELL SOUTH OF KODIAK ISLAND.

AT THE SURFACE...A LARGE BUT WEAKENING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS
NORTHEAST OF THE PRIBILOFS WITH A BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE
EXTREME WESTERN BERING. REMNANTS OF A FRONT ARE ALONG THE NORTH GULF
COAST..AND HIGH PRESSURE IS OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE GULF. A DEEP
LOW IS AROUND 40 N WELL SOUTH OF THE AKPEN.

.MODEL DISCUSSION...

MODELS ARE IN DECENT AGREEMENT FOR THE FIRST DAY...DIVERGE BRIEFLY
AND THEN CONSOLIDATE BY DAY 3.

THE BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE IN THE WESTERN BERING DISSIPATES SAT.
A FRONTAL SYSTEM FROM A KAMCHATKA LOW THEN ENTERS THE REGION SAT
NIGHT INTO SUN...DISSIPATES AND IS FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER SYSTEM ON SUN.
THE DEEP LOW CURRENTLY NORTHEAST OF THE PRIBILOFS STEADILY WEAKENS AS
IT MOVES TO THE NORTHERN BERING ON SAT AND THEN DISSIPATES.

THE FRONT ALONG THE NORTH GULF COAST DISSIPATES AS IT MOVES INLAND
TODAY. A LINGERING NORTH SOUTH ORIENTED TROUGH THROUGH THE CENTRAL
GULF BECOMES A FRONT THAT MOVES TO KODIAK ISLAND THIS EVENING AND
THEN WEAKENS....AND IN SO DOING CUTS OFF THE FIREHOSE.

THE DEEP LOW CURRENTLY WELL SOUTH OF THE AKPEN AT 40 N WILL ELONGATE
AS IT MOVES NORTH...SEND A WEAK LOW INTO THE EASTERN BERING ON
SUN...WHILE THE MAIN PORTION IS ABSORBED BY A NEW NORTH PACIFIC LOW.
THE LATTER LOW THEN MOVES TO AROUND 50 N WELL SOUTH OF KODIAK ISLAND
ON MON. A FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FINAL LOW WILL REACH THE NORTH
GULF COAST LATER ON MON.

THE FORECAST UTILIZES THE EC FOR CONSISTENCY...WITH THE GFS AND NAM
INCORPORATED IN THE EARLY PERIODS FOR DETAIL.

.SHORT TERM FORECAST...

BERING SEA AND ALEUTIANS...COLD AIR BEHIND THE DEPARTING LOW WILL
CONTINUE SNOW SHOWERS FOR THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN BERING SEA. A
FRONT/TROUGH WILL SWING OVER THE ALASKA PENINSULA LATE TONIGHT AND
BRING ANOTHER BOUT OF RAIN FOR THE WEEKEND. SNOW AND GUSTY NORTHERLY
WINDS WILL REMAIN ON THE COLD SIDE OF THE FRONT...MAINLY THE CENTRAL
AND EASTERN ALEUTIANS. A SERIES OF WEAK FRONTS/LOWS WILL BRING AREAS
OF SNOW TO THE WESTERN ALEUTIANS THROUGH THE WEEKEND.

SOUTHWEST ALASKA...COLDER AIR IS WRAPPING BACK AROUND THE SOUTH SIDE
OF THE DEPARTING LOW BRINGING A QUICK SHOT OF RAIN AND SNOW AS WELL
AS GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS FOR THE KUSKOKWIM DELTA. OTHERWISE DRIER
CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TODAY WITH LIGHT SOUTHERLY WINDS FOR INTERIOR
BRISTOL BAY AND THE KUSKOKWIM VALLEY. TONIGHT INTO SATURDAY
AFTERNOON...A WARM FRONT FROM THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL SWING OVER THE
MAINLAND FROM SOUTHEAST TO NORTHWEST BRINGING A PERIOD OF STEADY RAIN
TO MOST AREAS. MILD TEMPERATURES...GUSTY SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS...AND
AREAS OF RAIN WILL CONTINUE BEHIND THE FRONT INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK.

SOUTH AND EAST OF THE AK RANGE...RAIN WITH WIND IN CHANNELED TERRAIN
WILL TAPER OFF TODAY AS THE FRONT MOVES INLAND AND DISSIPATES. THE
WESTWARD MOVING FRONT ACROSS THE GULF WILL SPREAD SOME RAIN OVER
SOUTHCENTRAL AND KODIAK ISLAND THROUGH TONIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE WILL
END PRECIPITATION OVER THE AREA ON SAT. SHOWERS OVER KODIAK SAT NIGHT
AND SUN WILL BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE PIECE OF THE LOW MOVING INTO THE
BERING. FINALLY...RAIN WILL RETURN TO THE COAST ON MON WITH THE FINAL
FRONT.

.LONG TERM FORECAST...

THE EXTENDED PATTERN REMAINS ANOMALOUSLY WARM. WHILE THE HIGH
AMPLITUDE RIDGE OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC IS BEING BROKEN DOWN BY
GUIDANCE...IT IS QUICKLY REPLACED BY A REX BLOCK. A CLOSED UPPER
HIGH PRESSURE CENTER NEAR THE GULF/SOUTHCENTRAL NORTHWARD OF A CLOSED
UPPER LOW IN THE PACIFIC LOOKS TO SLOW THE LONG-WAVE PATTERN ONCE
AGAIN. THE SENSIBLE CHANGE IN THE WEATHER PATTERN WOULD BE CONTINUED
ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES WITH NOT AS MUCH WIND/PRECIPITATION.

.AER/ALU...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY
PUBLIC...NONE
MARINE...GALES 125 128 130 131 138 150 155 170 172 173 174 180 181
               185
         HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY 185
FIRE WEATHER...NONE

DS/ML JAN 14

Event by event

1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.

Avalanche, Nern P.W. Snd

When: January 24, 12:00 PM AKST to January 25, 1:00 PM AKST
Where: Nern P.W. Snd forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: Department of Highways

What these are

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.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alaska in 2014 Every state in 2014 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, January 2014

Sources

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: 485931.