An Avalanche Warning is in effect for the Aspen and Gunnison region on Wednesday.
Strong winds from the west-southwest direction, paired with heavy snowfall, will increase the avalanche danger to "High," which is level 4 of 5, by the afternoon and early evening, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) said.
The CAIC initially issued an Avalanche Watch Tuesday evening, which was upgraded to an Avalanche Warning at 7 a.m. Wednesday for the Aspen and Gunnison region. The warning will stay in place until Friday at 7 a.m.
A warning means "very dangerous" avalanche conditions exist, CAIC said, and large natural or human-triggered avalanches are either happening or expected to happen.
Large and dangerous avalanches will run naturally during the intense snowfall in Aspen and Gunnison. It will be easy to trigger them and they will be big enough to bury and kill a person, CAIC said.
An Avalanche Watch was issued Thursday morning for the Front Range, Steamboat and Flat Tops zones.
CAIC recommends avoiding any travel on or underneath avalanche terrain and to re-evaluate any backcountry travel plans in these areas.
Click here to see the avalanche forecast.
