Colorado authorities on Wednesday issued avalanche warnings of severe risks in western Colorado, especially in the San Juan and Sangre de Cristo mountains, as snowstorms load slopes in the high country.
National Weather Service forecasters pointed to avalanche warnings covering mountain areas north and south of Interstate 70, advising caution.
The Colorado Avalance Information Center forecasters posted multiple “high” and “extreme” avalanche warnings, anticipating “very dangerous conditions” and advised residents to “avoid all avalanche terrain.”
“Very large human-triggered and natural avalanches certain, running to valley bottoms,” CAIC forecasters’ latest assessment Wednesday morning said.
Snow slides swept up nearly a dozen skiers since Friday, and two fatalities raised the number of avalanche deaths in Colorado this past winter to nine. CAIC director Ethan Greene said that even conditions rated as moderately dangerous by forecasters can be deadly, depending on where skiers go.
