Front Range

Drifting from snow and westerly winds earlier in the week means you can trigger an avalanche where you find slabs of drifted snow on steep leeward slopes. Avalanches will be easier to trigger in areas that get more than about 6 inches of snow Thursday into Friday. Any avalanche has the potential to gouge down to deeper layers and grow larger. North, northeast, and east-facing slopes are the most dangerous.

This recent large avalanche shows that there are places with thick slabs of drifted snow over very weak layers near the ground. These conditions seem to be more pronounced around Vail Pass.