Sawatch

You could trigger a small avalanche on northerly and east-facing slopes where you find more than eight inches of wind-drifted snow. Beware slopes with continuous snow cover where you find firm surface snow over weaker snow at the ground. These slopes will also be the most tempting to ride and will be found below ridges and in gullies. Avalanches may break wider than you anticipate. Shooting cracks in drifted snow are a sign you should move to lower-angle terrain or slopes with no snow before the recent storm.

An incoming storm Thursday night will cause the avalanche danger to increase through the weekend.