Southern San Juan

An avalanche watch goes into effect Tuesday morning for areas around Wolf Creek Pass and south to Cumbres and La Manga Passes. A potent storm Tuesday night will cause the avalanche danger to rise rapidly into Wednesday morning. The danger remains elevated Wednesday as heavy snow, and strong winds continue through the day. Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended.

On Tuesday, an incoming storm will begin to fall on a weak snowpack. You can trigger an avalanche where winds have drifted recent snows over weaker snow below. You are most likely to find this on all elevation slopes facing north, northeast, and upper elevation slopes facing east. It will be possible to trigger steep slopes from below. If you experience cracking or collapsing, retreat to slopes less than about 35 degrees in steepness.