Avalanche started on the south side of Granite mountain by skiers around 5300 feet. They were carried down to about 2300 feet.
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.
Avalanche started on the south side of Granite mountain by skiers around 5300 feet. They were carried down to about 2300 feet. One survived one found dead the next morning.
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 Mar 22, 2:55 PM PST, 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA 355 PM PDT SAT MAR 22 2014 .SYNOPSIS...A WEAK WARM FRONT WILL BRUSH BY NORTHWEST WASHINGTON THIS EVENING. AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE ACCOMPANIED BY LOW LEVEL OFFSHORE FLOW WILL BRING MILD WEATHER SUNDAY AND MONDAY. THE RIDGE WILL SHIFT EAST MONDAY NIGHT WITH THE NEXT FRONTAL SYSTEM ARRIVING MONDAY NIGHT. AN UPPER TROUGH WILL SETTLE OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST FROM TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. A BRIEF PERIOD OF UPPER RIDGING IS EXPECTED AROUND THURSDAY NIGHT OR FRIDAY. && .SHORT TERM...A SMALL SHORTWAVE SCOOTING ACROSS SRN B.C. TODAY WILL BRING MODEST WARM ADVECTION AND SOME LIGHT RAIN OR SPRINKLES ACROSS THE NRN THIRD OF THE FCST AREA THIS EVNG. ONCE THE SHORTWAVE EXITS EAST...A SHARPENING UPPER RIDGE OUT NEAR 130W WILL TURN OUR FLOW ALOFT MORE NWLY...PUSHING SOMEWHAT COOLER AIR INTO ERN WA AND INITIATING LOW-LEVEL OFFSHORE FLOW OVER WRN WA. THE UPPER RIDGE AXIS WILL CROSS WRN WA ON MON MRNG...REACHING ERN WA ON MON AFTN. WITH LOW-LEVEL OFFSHORE FLOW CONTINUING ON MON AND FLOW ALOFT BECOMING SOUTHERLY...LOOKS LIKE A GOOD SETUP FOR ONE OF THE WARMER DAYS SO FAR THIS YEAR. COULD SEE QUITE A FEW LOWLAND TEMPS REACHING THE MID 60S...THAT IS IF THICKENING MID-UPPER LEVEL CLOUDS DO NOT BLOT OUT TOO MUCH OF THE SUN'S WARMING RAYS. HOWEVER...THE GFS BRINGS SOME LIGHT RAIN ON MON NEAR THE CANADIAN BORDER...AT THE NOSE OF THE WARMING LOW-LEVEL AIR MASS. HOWEVER... THE NAM KEEPS PRECIP NORTH OF THE BORDER. HAVE GONE WITH 20-30 POPS NEAR THE CANADIAN BORDER ON MON TO COVER THIS. AN UPPER TROUGH OVER THE ERN PAC WILL PUSH A COLD FRONT ONSHORE ON MON NGT...PUSHING RAIN ACROSS THE AREA. COLDER AIR ALOFT WILL ARRIVE ON TUE...DESTABILIZING THE ATMOSPHERE WITH NUMEROUS SHOWERS. COULD EVEN GET A COUPLE OF LIGHTNING STRIKES. HANER .LONG TERM...A BROAD UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL SLOWLY MEANDER ACROSS WRN WA ON WED AND THU. THIS WILL KEEP SHOWERS GOING. MODELS SHOW SOME FLAT UPPER RIDGING ARRIVING ON THU NGT OR FRI MRNG...WITH A RELATIVE LULL IN PRECIP EXPECTED. BY NEXT SAT...A WELL-DEVELOPED UPPER TROUGH OUT AROUND 140W WILL POINT ENERGETIC SW FLOW INTO THE REGION. HOWEVER...MODELS DIFFER ON WHEN THE HEAVIEST RAIN WILL BE...AND WHERE THE AXIS OF HEAVIEST RAIN WILL BE. HANER && .HYDROLOGY...MASSIVE LANDSLIDE APPEARS TO HAVE BLOCKED THE NORTH FORK OF THE STILLAGUAMISH RIVER JUST EAST OF OSO. A RIVER GAGE JUST DOWNSTREAM OF THE BLOCKAGE DROPPED FROM 3.1 FEET TO 0.9 FEET IN THE HOUR AFTER THE SLIDE...AND IT HAS SINCE DROPPED TO 0.3 FEET. THE GAGE AT ARLINGTON IS ALSO NOW SHOWING A SHARP DROP IN THE STAGE AS WATER GETS STUCK UPSTREAM OF THE SLIDE. ISSUED A FLOOD WARNING TO COVER THE SCENARIO OF UPSTREAM FLOODING AS WATERS FIRST GETS BACKED UP BY THE SLIDE...THEN THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO WHERE BACKED-UP WATER SUDDENLY GETS RELEASED DOWNSTREAM. HAVE ASKED AUTHORITIES FOR INFO ON HEIGHT OF THE RIVER BLOCKAGE. ONCE ARMED WITH THIS PIECE OF INFO...THE RFC WILL ATTEMPT TO RUN A WORST-CASE DAM BREAK SIMULATION TO GIVE US A BETTER IDEA OF THE DOWNSTREAM FLOOD POTENTIAL...IN CASE THE BLOCKAGE WERE TO RELEASE SUDDENLY. WHEN THIS HAPPENS...WE WILL UPDATE THE FLOOD WARNING AND DO OUR BEST TO UPDATE THE RIVER FORECAST STAGE AT ARLINGTON THAT SHOWS UP ON OUR AHPS WEBPAGE. IN THE MEANTIME...FOLKS DOWNSTREAM SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM THE RIVER IN CASE A SUDDEN RELEASE OF WATER OCCURS WITH AN ENSUING QUICK RISE TO FLOOD. OTHERWISE...WEATHER MODELS SHOW THE POSSIBILITY OF SOME HEAVY RAIN AROUND FRIDAY NIGHT OR SATURDAY...MARCH 28-29. IT WOULD LIKELY BE ENOUGH TO CAUSE RISES ON AREA RIVERS. HOWEVER...IT DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE ENOUGH TO CAUSE MUCH CONCERN FOR FLOODING AT THIS TIME. HANER && .AVIATION...A WEAK UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVE TROUGH WILL CLIP THROUGH SOUTHERN B.C. THIS EVENING...WITH A FEW LIGHT SHOWERS NEAR THE WA/CANADIAN BORDER. THE FLOW ALOFT IS NORTHWESTERLY. VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL. AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BUILD OFFSHORE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY FOR DRY/STABLE WEATHER. 33 KSEA...VFR CONDITIONS TONIGHT WITH LIGHT NORTHERLY FLOW AT THE SURFACE. 33 && .MARINE...A WEAK SURFACE TROUGH WILL PASS THROUGH THE REGION TONIGHT. HIGH PRES WILL BUILD OVER THE REGION ON SUNDAY FOR GENERALLY LIGHT OFFSHORE WINDS. OFFSHORE FLOW WILL INCREASE ON MON WITH SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY WINDS POSSIBLE OVER THE COASTAL WATERS AND WESTERN STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA. A COLD FRONT WILL THEN MOVE INLAND ON TUE. 33 & .SEW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WA...NONE. PZ...NONE. && YOU CAN SEE AN ILLUSTRATED VERSION OF THE FORECAST DISCUSSION AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE/GAFD/LATEST_WEBAFD.HTML
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
253 PM PDT SAT MAR 22 2014
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0249 PM DEBRIS FLOW OSO 48.27N 121.93W
03/22/2014 SNOHOMISH WA NEWSPAPER
*** 2 FATAL, 5 INJ *** REPORT OF LANDSLIDE OCCURING NEAR
THE TOWN OF OSO AROUND 1047 AM. SLIDE HAS AFFECTED AROUND
15 HOUSES...COVERING BOTH LANES OF STATE ROUND 530...AND
HAS DAMMED UP THE NORTH FORK OF THE STILLAGUAMISH RIVER.
THERE ARE ABOUT 5 INJURIES... AND TWO DEATHS HAVE BEEN
CONFIRMED AS OF 240 PM.
&&
GRUBPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
259 PM PDT SAT MAR 22 2014
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0249 PM DEBRIS FLOW OSO 48.27N 121.93W
03/22/2014 SNOHOMISH WA NEWSPAPER
*** 2 FATAL, 5 INJ *** REPORT OF LANDSLIDE OCCURING NEAR
THE TOWN OF OSO AROUND 1047 AM. SLIDE HAS AFFECTED AROUND
15 HOUSES...COVERING BOTH LANES OF STATE ROUTE 530...AND
HAS DAMMED UP THE NORTH FORK OF THE STILLAGUAMISH RIVER.
THERE ARE ABOUT 5 INJURIES... AND TWO DEATHS HAVE BEEN
CONFIRMED AS OF 240 PM.
&&
GRUB1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
Avalanche started on the south side of Granite mountain by skiers around 5300 feet. They were carried down to about 2300 feet. One survived, one found dead the next morning.
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 | 2014-03-22 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, March 2014
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: 499440.