Grand Mesa

Start and end your day early to avoid wet snow avalanches. Avalanches are more likely when the surface snow gets wet and loses cohesion. If you find more than a few inches of wet, gloppy snow at the surface, sink past your boot tops, feel the surface crusts collapse, or see point releases running from steep rocky terrain, it's time to find a cooler, more supportable place to travel or avoid avalanche terrain. Most avalanches are relatively small this time of year, but small avalanches can entrain enough wet snow to knock you down and send you for a dangerous ride. Assess steep consequential terrain above rocks or cliffs carefully. This is the most likely place for you to get injured or killed this time of year.

Most of the recent avalanche activity has been in steep, rocky near treeline areas in the Northern and Central Mountains, where there was more late-season snow and nighttime temperatures aren't dropping below freezing. You can still trigger dangerous Wet Slab avalanches in these spots.

Here is some general information about Summer Avalanche Safety.

You can get current weather forecasts by clicking the map on the CAIC's Weather Forecast page. Our computer Model Forecasts update four times daily and will run through the summer. If you are going into the Colorado high country, use our Weather Stations page to check current conditions.

Avalanches are possible any time you find snow on steep slopes in Colorado. Although accidents are less likely in the summer, there have been fatal avalanche accidents every month of the year. When conditions change, we will update the avalanche summary text, so click the map to get the latest conditions. Keep sending us your field reports. We rely on your information to stay current on avalanche conditions across the state. There have been fatal avalanche accidents every month of the year in Colorado, so don't let your guard down.