A man was climbing a peak on Mount St Helens while snowboarding and, while standing near the top, reportedly triggered an avalanche on a cornice and fell to his death. Weather conditions were dry and sunny.
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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 PQR wrote it up.
A man was climbing a peak on Mount St Helens while snowboarding and, while standing near the top, reportedly triggered an avalanche on a cornice and fell to his death. Weather conditions were dry and sunny.
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 Portland, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 30, 1:30 AM PST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Portland OR
230 AM PDT Sat Mar 30 2024
.SYNOPSIS...An upper level ridge will bring dry and mild conditions
this weekend into early next week, warmest on Tuesday when inland
high temperatures are expected to rise into the 70s. A mid-week
frontal system will then bring a return to cool and wet weather
Wednesday into Thursday.
&&
.DISCUSSION...Saturday through Friday night...The weather pattern
Saturday through Tuesday is highlighted by dry conditions and
mild/sunny afternoons. The warmer and drier weather pattern is due to
an incoming upper level ridge, which is set to move over the area on
Monday before shifting east of the Cascades on Tuesday. Models and
their ensembles continue showing good agreement regarding the
strength and timing of this ridge, as well as high temps at the
surface. As such, model spread is fairly low on the NBM 1D Viewer.
The 10th-90th percentile for high temps at PDX ranges from 63F to 68F
on Saturday, 62F to 66F on Sunday, 64F to 72F on Monday and 71F to
78F on Tuesday. Suspect observed high temps will wind up closer to
the 90th percentile than the 10th percentile, as the deterministic
NBM is often a bit too cool this time of year on sunny days. Despite
the mild afternoon temps, it will be a bit chilly during the early
morning hours this weekend with patchy frost likely in the Upper Hood
River Valley, Coast Range, Willapa Hills and Cascade foothills where
radiational cooling should allow temps to dip into the mid 30s. The
probability for below freezing temps is low according to the latest
NBM (generally under 10-15% in the aforementioned locations, and 0-2%
in the Willamette Valley and Portland/Vancouver metro area).
Beginning Wednesday, confidence remains high for cooler and wetter
weather as the next Pacific frontal system moves inland. This system
will bring a round of valley rain and Cascade snow through the day on
Wednesday, following by post-frontal showers Wednesday night into
Thursday. Snow levels are expected to briefly dip to near 1000 ft
Thursday morning (10% chance as low as 500 ft, mainly under heavier
showers). While the valley floor is expected to see precip fall in
the form of rain, the Coast Range and Cascades will see snow showers.
However, accumulations look to be light given the showery nature of
the precip and marginal temps. The probability for 24-hr snow amounts
over 6" is low even in the high Cascades at 10-30%. Forecast rain
amounts in the valley are not overly impressive as amounts will most
likely end up under 0.25" for most locations. That said, some
ensemble guidance is noticeably wetter. The probability for 24-hr QPF
amounts over 0.25" is around 20-30% across the Willamette Valley,
Cowlitz Valley and Portland/Vancouver metro. The Hood River Valley
has a 10-20% chance. The coast and mountains have the best chance at
40-60%.
The forecast becomes more uncertain on Friday, as some guidance
maintains showers in the area while other guidance dries the region
out with offshore flow developing. For now, the NBM suggests highs in
the mid to upper 50s with a 40-75% chance of showers (best chance in
the Cascades, lowest chance across the interior lowlands). -TK
&&
.AVIATION...Widespread VFR under mostly clear skies expected
through at least 06Z Sunday. Generally northerly winds around 5
to 10 kt, but are expected to increase to around 10 to 20 kt
around 20Z Saturday. There is a 5% chance of some patchy fog
forming in the south valley through 15Z Saturday. Any fog that
does develop would be short-lived and not particularly dense.
* Note: The observations out of KONP are generally limited to wind
and pressure at this time. Periodically cloud cover, vis, and
present wx are reported but are unreliable.
PDX AND APPROACHES...Widespread VFR conditions with northerly
winds through at least 06Z Sunday. /42
&&
.MARINE...The weekend will bring a more summer like pattern to all
waters as a ridge of high pressure continues to build over the
region. Expect northerly winds with gusts up to 30 kt through at
least Sunday afternoon. Seas during this time will also be around
8 to 10 ft. Therefore, have extended the current Small Craft
Advisory through at least Sunday afternoon. Also, given the
predominately westerly swell and northerly wind waves, expect
conditions to be steep an choppy at times.
A more active weather pattern is expected by the middle of the
upcoming week, although there remains continued uncertainty as to
the exact timing and impacts, but winds and seas are expected to
return to at least Small Craft conditions. /42
&&
.PQR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...None.
WA...None.
PZ...Small Craft Advisory until 5 PM PDT Sunday for PZZ251>253-
271>273.
&&
www.weather.gov/portland
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www.twitter.com/NWSPortlandThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
Time of incident unknown, but it was daylight when the incident occurred so used sunrise to sunset times.
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, South Washington Cascades | 2024-03-30 | 42 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, March 2024
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: 1164629.