Avalanches Are the Most Frequent Cause of Weather Fatalities in Almost All Mountainous States

An interesting map Tweeted last week by Washington Submit meteorologist and USTornadoes.com co-founder Ian Livingston reveals that the “most frequent cause of weather fatalities by NWS County Warning Area” is avalanches for the majority of mountainous states.

• Related: Colorado Avalanche Danger is Highest Since Records Began | 3,000 Slides this Year Already

Along the coastlines, it’s riptides, the south, and California it’s heat, and in the north, it’s cold that results in the most weather-related deaths.

Most frequent cause of weather fatalities by NWS County Warning Area.

(Lots of work to do on the project but I found this early look informative and worth sharing as is. Larger version here: https://t.co/MN5Od9NfUd) pic.twitter.com/Id3mXTmUbs

— Ian Livingston (@islivingston) September 17, 2019

But overall, it’s typically avalanches that create probably the most weather-related heartbreak annually. In the last 20-years, 119 avalanche fatalities have been recorded in Colorado alone, about six every year, the most avalanche-related deaths of any state in that 2-decade period. Alaska is next, with 88 avalanche-related deaths since 1999.