A 29-year-old backcountry skier died after she was caught up in an avalanche near Cameron Pass. The woman was with another skier on south Diamond Peak when the avalanche was triggered.
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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 BOU wrote it up.
A 29-year-old backcountry skier died after she was caught up in an avalanche near Cameron Pass. The woman was with another skier on south Diamond Peak when the avalanche was triggered. The skier triggered the avalanche approximately midway through her descent near the center of a steep wind-loaded gully. The avalanche started on a northeast-facing slope at around 11,200 feet. It broke above the skier and although she managed to stay on her skis, she was swept down the gully and buried on a flat bench in the runout zone. The victim was not breathing after the avalanche. She was declared deceased at the scene, and her body was recovered from the mountain-side. The avalanche was described as 2 to 3 feet deep, very wide, and running close to 500 feet vertically, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. The south Diamond Peak incident marked the first avalanche death of the season in Colorado.
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 Denver/Boulder, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 8, 10:28 AM MST, 2 hours 47 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 1028 AM MST Sun Dec 8 2019 .UPDATE... Issued at 1023 AM MST Sun Dec 8 2019 A fairly sharp dry slot along with breaks in the overcast is currently traversing across western and northwestern Colorado this morning bringing sharp subsidence and a temporary pause in the precip from earlier this morning. Another round of instability will still be expected for late this afternoon and evening as the main trough axis moves across the region. Current water vapor channel indicates some lift and a light convective nature to the precip associated with this axis out over northern and central UT. At this time, the current winter highlights look on track as an expected 7-11degC of cooling in the 600-500mb layer is still expect through today and into late tonight while in an environment of strong westerly flow for orographics. Best cooling and snow production indicated in the short range models exists from 6pm this evening through 3am Monday. Otherwise, only minor adjustment to todays temps and winds. Scattered showers will still be expected to detach from the continental divide region, in strong westerly flow aloft, and move onto the plains this evening and into the overnight period when the front arrives. && .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 400 AM MST Sun Dec 8 2019 An upper trough dropping down over Northern California has brought west-southwest flow aloft over Colorado. Moisture has deepened over the last few hours as snow has entered into the northern and central mountains. Good snow is falling over Summit County and the I-70 corridor, and is expected to spread north through the day, before winds turn more westerly this afternoon. It becomes a bit more unstable this afternoon as colder air moves in aloft, and QG upward motion increases. Could see a few localized areas of heavy snow, increased QPF and snow amounts a little over zone 31. Overall, advisory amounts still look good for the rest of the mountains, even though zone 31 may see localized areas of warning criteria. Winds will then turn northwesterly tonight to bring good orographic snow and colder air to the mountains. Temperatures will drop into the teens. Over the plains, a mountain wave and downsloping winds still exist this morning, keeping the foothills and into the urban corridor breezy and warm. High clouds streaming over the area will continue through the day, but the thickest look to stay to the south of us. Even though forecast soundings show a very shallow inversion which doesn't break, am thinking the warm overnight lows now, and assuming some sun will make it through should break the inversion. Therefore, warmed the forecasted temperatures up today across the plains by several degrees. As the lift from the weather system moves across the area this afternoon, a few rain showers may form quickly moving northeast. The associated cold front isn't expected until after midnight, with northerly winds pushing down through the early morning hours. These winds will then veer to the northeast and east, creating some weak upslope flow towards sunrise, to bring a slight chance of snow across the plains and into the foothills. .LONG TERM...(Monday through Saturday) Issued at 400 AM MST Sun Dec 8 2019 Colder air will continue to filter over the forecast area Monday, in the wake of tonight's cold front. Snow will gradually taper off by late morning in the mountains as moisture depth decreases, but a few spots could see a couple more inches of snow. The Winter Weather Advisory for the northern mountains until 11 AM Monday looks to be on track, especially considering there will be snow covered roads and reduced visibility over the higher passes due to blowing snow. On the plains, shallow anticyclonic upslope is expected to remain in place. This would keep a slight chance of light snow showers or a few flurries in the forecast. Moisture is quite shallow and airmass is strongly subsident, so it surely doesn't look like much if anything. Temperatures will struggle into the 30s on the plains, while mountain locales will be in the upper teens and 20s with much colder wind chills. For Tuesday through Thursday, we'll see a gradual moderation in temperatures, although a weak wave or two moving through the flat ridge could bring weak backdoor cold fronts onto the plains. At this point, hard to time any of these so we'll go with the model averages here, pushing to above normal levels Wednesday and more so Thursday. The main feature in the extended period is the prospect of more significant snowfall in the Colorado high country starting by Friday and then continuing through much of next weekend. Obviously, that far out there is more uncertainty here, but medium range ensembles are becoming in better agreement that a powerful Pacific jet stream will plow across the Central Rockies. This would open us up to a plume of Pacific moisture, and combined with jet dynamics and strong orographics result in potentially heavy snowfall for the Colorado High Country. Taking a look at Ensemble tables, there's an extended period of 2-4 standardized anomalies of Integrated Vapor Transport (IVT) into Colorado late Friday night through Saturday. These coincide with a plume of 700-500 mb specific humidities of 2-3 g/kg, also well above normal. Some of this snow may also spill onto the plains as we should get a cold front and push of at least shallow upslope. If this pattern manifests itself, then Colorado skiers should be getting excited about the prospects next weekend, while travelers, in contrast, may be in for some rough driving conditions ahead. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Monday afternoon) Issued at 1023 AM MST Sun Dec 8 2019 VFR conditions are expected through today across the metro Denver terminals. Surface winds today will be predominantly from a west to northwesterly component ahead of a cold front expected late tonight. This cold front will bring a sharp switch to northerly winds after 08z along with scattered light snow showers in the vicinity of the terminals through Monday morning. A trend toward dry and stable conditions is expected for Monday morning through the rest of the day with with an east to southeasterly component to the winds through Monday afternoon. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until 11 AM MST Monday for COZ031-033- 034. && UPDATE...Fredin SHORT TERM...Kriederman LONG TERM...Barjenbruch AVIATION...Fredin
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 1115 AM MST Sun Dec 8 2019 COZ030>051-091815- Jackson County Below 9000 Feet- West Jackson and West Grand Counties Above 9000 Feet- Grand and Summit Counties Below 9000 Feet- South and East Jackson/Larimer/North and Northeast Grand/ Northwest Boulder Counties Above 9000 Feet- South and Southeast Grand/West Central and Southwest Boulder/ Gilpin/Clear Creek/Summit/North and West Park Counties Above 9000 Feet-Larimer and Boulder Counties Between 6000 and 9000 Feet- Jefferson and West Douglas Counties Above 6000 Feet/Gilpin/Clear Creek/Northeast Park Counties Below 9000 Feet- Central and Southeast Park County- Larimer County Below 6000 Feet/Northwest Weld County- Boulder And Jefferson Counties Below 6000 Feet/West Broomfield County- North Douglas County Below 6000 Feet/Denver/West Adams and Arapahoe Counties/East Broomfield County- Elbert/Central and East Douglas Counties Above 6000 Feet- Northeast Weld County-Central and South Weld County-Morgan County- Central and East Adams and Arapahoe Counties- North and Northeast Elbert County Below 6000 Feet/North Lincoln County- Southeast Elbert County Below 6000 Feet/South Lincoln County- Logan County-Washington County-Sedgwick County-Phillips County- 1115 AM MST Sun Dec 8 2019 This hazardous weather outlook is for northeast and north central Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight After a brief break in the snow coverage this morning, snow will increase again across the mountains by late afternoon. The combination of strong west winds and snow will create reduced visibility, especially near the higher ridges and passes. Poor visibility along with icy and snowpacked roads will cause slow and difficult travel in the high country this afternoon and tonight. A few rain showers will be possible over the plains this afternoon ahead of a cold front which will push south across the area after midnight. Showers of light snow can be expected across the lower elevations overnight with accumulations under a half inch under the stronger snow showers. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday Snow in the mountains will gradually decrease Monday morning, but gusty northwest winds will continue to produce areas of blowing and drifting snow, and reduced visibility over the higher passes. Total snow accumulations from today through Monday morning are expected to range between 5 and 10 inches in elevations above 9000 feet, with up to 15 inches in the mountains from Rabbit Ears Pass northward. Travelers should be prepared for hazardous winter travel conditions through at least Monday morning, with slowly improving conditions through the afternoon and evening. Mainly dry weather will then prevail Tuesday through Thursday, with temperatures returning to above normal levels. The next system will bring snow, mainly to the mountains on Friday into next weekend. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed today or tonight. Any reports of snowfall in the mountains would be appreciated.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
A backcountry skier died after she was caught up in an avalanche.
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, S & E Jackson / Larimer / N & Ne Grand / Nw Boulder Counties Above 9000 Feet | 2019-12-08 | 29 | Female | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, December 2019
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: 869527.