Southern San Juan

You can trigger a large and dangerous avalanche in the new storm snow. The most dangerous slopes are steep and carry more than about 12 or more inches of new snow. Move to a lower angle slope if you observe signs of instability like recent avalanches or cracking in the new storm snow. New snow will slide readily on steep slopes that face southerly and westerly and carry slick pre-storm crusts. Small slides in steep terrain can entrain snow and pick up speed, becoming a larger problem above terrain traps like gullies, trees, or cliffs.

Avalanches in the new snow could step down to buried February weak layers, causing a larger slide that propagates widely. This is most likely on slopes that face northerly or easterly in areas with a shallow snowpack. Common trigger spots include exposed rocks and below ridges and cliffs.