Southern San Juan

It will be easier to trigger a wet snow avalanche on slopes around 35 degrees with around 6 inches of wet, cohesionless snow. Increasing cloud cover and warm temperatures Friday night will likely result in a second, consecutive night of a weak freeze, and wet snow hazards will likely emerge on northerly-facing slopes at lower elevations. Loose snow slides that travel long distances could gouge deeper and leave a dangerous pile of snow at the bottom of a slope, or in gullies and creek bottoms. Some wet avalanches may fail as a more dangerous slab of wet snow, and those types of avalanches will be more difficult to escape. Frequently step off your boards or machine to see how supportive the snow surface is, and avoid traveling on or below steep slopes if you easily sink past your shins into wet, rotten snow.