Northern San Juan

An Avalanche Warning is in effect for much of the San Juan mountains. Heavy snow and strong winds will create very dangerous avalanche conditions starting Thursday night and lasting through Saturday. Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended during this time. 

You can easily trigger an avalanche where you find new snow forming a cohesive slab on steep slopes at all elevations. Avalanche danger will rise rapidly as new snow accumulates. You’re most likely to trigger an avalanche in the new snow where you find 10 inches or more of new snow forming a slab. Look for signs of storm snow instabilities, such as small natural avalanches on steep roadbanks or cracking in the new snow. As the new snow load increases, so do your chances of triggering a larger, more dangerous avalanche that breaks deeper in the snowpack on old, buried weak layers. Anticipate dangerous and dynamic avalanche conditions on Friday and through the weekend.

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