DENVER (KDVR) — As many are taking to the slopes during their holiday vacations, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center is warning backcountry skiers and snowboarders to be cautious of weak snowpack under recently fallen snow.
Areas of Colorado’s mountains, including Keystone, Vail, Aspen, Winter Park and other popular winter recreation destinations, are forecasted to have moderate avalanche danger on Thursday with conditions forecasted to increase to “considerable” danger in some areas on Friday and throughout the weekend.
Portions of the Colorado mountains will receive a few more inches of snow overnight Wednesday into Thursday, and the CAIC said that likely won’t increase the avalanche danger for most areas. However, the southernmost Front Range and Mount Blue Sky areas could see upward of 8 inches of snow overnight, according to the CAIC.
“The danger starts to increase for the rest of the region beginning about midday Thursday,” the CAIC forecast stated on Wednesday. “A prolonged period of stormy and windy weather will last into the New Year. Predicting how our weak layers will respond to this cumulative load is tricky, but it seems like around eight to ten inches of snow with some wind is the magic number.”
The CAIC said that Colorado’s last round of avalanches started with “intense wind and six inches of snow or less in some areas,” so the team of forecasters said it will keep an eye on the forecast and look for signs that the state’s weak snowpack could give way to avalanches. The Park Range is forecasted to see the biggest increase in avalanche danger and could reach “high” or level 4 out of 5 by Saturday, and other areas will reach “considerable,” or level 3 of 5, on Friday.
“Dangerous conditions will last into next week,” the CAIC wrote.
The organization said that backcountry adventurers will not see much feedback from the snowpack right now to indicate weak snow.
“That might be due to slabs being too dense and hard, or a lack of slab continuity across slopes. This will change as the storm develops and our weak layers are overloaded,” the CAIC warned. “A return to seeing these obvious signs will be a good indication that conditions are becoming more dangerous.”
Additionally, a 3.2 magnitude earthquake was recorded Thursday at about 6:30 p.m. near Granger, Wyoming. The area is along Interstate 80 in southwestern Wyoming and is north of Utah. It’s unclear if the geomagnetic movement will impact Colorado’s snowpack.
The organization also noted the most recent avalanche activity was seen on north through east to southeast-facing slopes. The forecasters told adventurers to be wary of west and northwest-facing slopes at middle and lower elevations after the snowstorm.
“Don’t let powder fever after a long dry spell cloud your decision-making in the coming days,” the CAIC warned. “Improved riding conditions will quickly become dangerous as the snow stacks up and the wind increases. The snowpack didn’t gain strength during the dry spell and conditions will be similar to the last big storm.”
The organization said on X on Wednesday that “the most dangerous slopes are where you find more than six inches of drifted snow.” That will lead to increased avalanche danger Friday through the weekend.
The organization warned skiers and riders that forecasters are expecting one to two feet of snow across the Northern and Central Mountains over the next few days, accompanied by strong westerly winds on Saturday through Monday.
