Avalanches cause four deaths

SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Avalanches have caused three deaths recently in Utah and another in Idaho.

After two snowshoers accidentally caused an avalanche and were injured in early February, avalanche watchers warned that more trouble was sure to come, and they were right, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

On Saturday in the back country of Utah, a 16-year-old's snowmobile was caught in a 300-foot-wide avalanche that buried him and his machine, resulting in his death.

Sunday was not any better, with a 17-year-old skier also being killed by an avalanche.

Craig Gordon, a forecaster at the U.S. Forest Service's Utah Avalanche Center, has warned that there are probably more of the natural disasters to come as snow settles throughout the week.

"We're not out of the woods yet," he said.

A Farr West, Utah, teen and a Richfield, Utah, man were also killed by avalanches while snowmobiling.