Front Range

Rapidly accumulating snow, and lots of it, means avalanches will quickly become dangerous. Expect to easily trigger large avalanches in the new snow on Saturday. Treat any steep slope with more than about eight inches of recent snow with lots of caution. Winds will change directions through the storm, drifting additional snow onto some slopes. You may not see huge whales or obvious pillows. Instead, you may need to recognize drifted areas by subtle increases in snow depth or a more cohesive feel to the snow. There will be less snow accumulating at lower elevations, making avalanches less easy to trigger below treeline. Slides may run from above, though, especially on snow-covered slopes like filled-in avalanche paths or shady, northerly-facing slopes.

Skies will be mostly to partly cloudy on Sunday. It will not take much of the strong late April sunshine to trigger Loose Wet avalanches. Expect steep slopes to shed the new snow with periods of just 30 or 60 minutes of sun.