Sangre de Cristo

Your chance to trigger a wet snow avalanche increases during the day as the snow surface softens from ample sunshine and warm temperatures. It will be easier to initiate a wet snow slide on slopes around 35 degrees, and at lower elevations where a weak overnight freeze is more likely. Shallow, loose sluffs may entrain additional snow volume and make a larger pile of snow at the bottom of a slope, or in gullies and creek bottoms. Use caution on slopes with around 6 inches of wet snow on the surface, and retreat to shadier slopes if you see rollerballs, pinwheels, or small loose snow sluffs.

On high, north-facing slopes, triggering an avalanche in dry weak snow layers has become less likely. If you were to find trouble, it would be where winds drifted recent snowfall into a slab above shallow weak snow layers or a firm sliding surface. Evaluate the consequences of triggering a small, isolated avalanche, and go around areas with a lens-shaped appearance if you see cracking in the snow.