Backcountry avalanche danger persists in Colorado’s mountains after a week of slides that caught nine people in the high country — burying two — and destroyed a home. And even more snow is on the way.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center said Thursday several of those swept up in slides were injured — some of them seriously — but no one has been killed. In Summit County, a large avalanche either Tuesday or early Wednesday near the town of Montezuma destroyed an uninhabited summer house.
“I expect the avalanche danger to stay at considerable through Friday and probably Saturday,” said Mike Cooperstein, a CAIC forecaster.
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Of the 10 zones analyzed by the CAIC, eight are under a considerable avalanche status and one — around Gunnison and Crested Butte — is under an avalanche warning until Friday morning.
Only the Sangre de Cristo zone has no posted danger.
The Silverton Standard reports a backcountry skier was buried under four feet of snow on U.S. 550, but was saved by a Silverton local — an avalanche expert — who happened to be in the area. The newspaper , showing several people with shovels digging out a man at the bottom of a deep snow pit.
Cooperstein said slides in the high country are trending away from being triggered naturally and more likely to be caused by humans. And the avalanches can be deadly.
“They are definitely capable of killing people at this point,” he said.
Snow is expected to fall in the mountains through Friday, with winter storm warnings on the Western Slope expiring on Thursday. The National Weather Service in Grand Junction says snow may not move out of the western part of the state until Monday afternoon.
“No, we are not out of the woods yet,” said Matthew Aleksa, a weather service meteorologist in Grand Junction. “The system that was bringing all of the moisture through the area for the past couple of weeks, that low pressure system is now working its way southward toward the California coast.”
Aleska said winter weather will return Thursday afternoon and evening and likely continue through the weekend in the Western Slope. He said significant precipitation is expected, with a rain-snow mix likely in the lower valleys and heavy snow at higher elevations.
“We’re expected a brief break this morning,” he said Thursday, “but then it should be picking up again this afternoon and evening.”
More winter weather is expected to return late next week.
“We might see dry weather on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week,” Joel Gratz, , posted in a forecast Thursday, “then snow should return from the 19-21st and another storm is possible around the 23-24th. What a January!”
