SEATTLE -- He'll never know how many lives he saved, but odds are good that Mark Moore has saved a lot of them over the years.
For nearly four decades, Moore served as director of the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center (NWAC), which started in 1975 as a UW research project. KING 5 meteorologist Rich Marriott co-founded the center with Moore.
In a nutshell, we try to promote safe use of the mountains in the wintertime, he said.
Moore and Marriott narrowly missed getting caught in an avalanche in the 1980s, something that stuck with both of them. As more skiers venture into the backcountry, Moore realizes his forecasts have grown more important.
On Wednesday, he sent out his final forecast. Like many of his past forecasts, this one was poetic. Moore built a reputation for his rhyming forecasts. An example:
New snow is great, but enough is enough.
Time for stable Spring snow, not more gooey stuff.
Within the snow and avalanche business, he is just a legend for being able to do this and he puts all the information in there, but he rhymes it all, it's the most amazing thing, Marriott said.
His farewell forecast ended with the following rhyme:
So my wish is simple when the season is done.
That no one has died, not even one.
Moore now looks forward to seeing the snow through new eyes, allowing him to appreciate its beauty, instead of its danger.
NWAC will continue operating after Moore leaves.
