LOS ANGELES, Feb 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) – A total of 25 peoples had been killed, in avalanches in the United States this winter, as of yesterday, according to Avalanche.org, a leading website providing real-time information on avalanche.
The latest data released by the website, co-launched by the the American Avalanche Association (A3) and the U.S. Forest Service National Avalanche Centre (NAC), said,17 fatal avalanches occurred since Dec 18.
Utah saw the deadliest avalanche in the country this year, which is also the state’s deadliest accident in about 30 years, on Feb 6, when four backcountry skiers in their 20s died, and another four dug themselves out of a 1,000-foot slide in the Wasatch Range, east of Salt Lake City.
Last Sunday, across the Rockies, on Valentine’s Day, avalanches killed three people in three separate incidents.
On the same day, a snowmobiler was caught and killed in an avalanche west of Rollins Pass, 110 kilometres west of Denver. There was no exact time when the accident occurred and rescue crews only found the victim buried underneath his sled after the avalanche stopped.
Researchers said, more avalanches happened across the West and in eastern Idaho and western Wyoming this winter, because backcountry slopes received several feet of new snow recently, that piled up onto a poor foundation of snow made rotten by long stretches of dry periods during Dec and Jan.
The center issued a news release on Monday, warning the chance of avalanches in the state was currently high, and will “likely rise to extreme in some areas,” starting Monday afternoon through Wednesday, and potentially into Thursday (today).
“Extreme” is the highest level of avalanche danger, meaning they’re “certain to occur” and when they do, they would be “fast-moving, far-running and very destructive,” the UAV said, adding, under this situation, avalanches could reach or occur in places that are not normally affected by the accidents.– NNN-AGENCIES
