The Crested Butte Avalanche Center has released a Special Avalanche Advisory today in Colorado.

A strong winter storm will be hammering Colorado with powerful winds and heavy snow today.  Storm totals be near 24″ of snow with this storm.  Avalanche danger will be rising all day today.

SUMMARY:

A strong and sustained winter storm is keeping our avalanche danger on the rise today.  Storm totals are approaching 2 feet, and very dangerous avalanche conditions are developing in the Kebler Pass and Paradise Divide areas. A natural avalanche cycle is expected on northerly facing slopes above treeline.  In these areas, large persistent slab avalanches are touchy to human and natural triggers, even down to near treeline elevations, and storm slabs will be possible to trigger around the compass rose. Travel above treeline is not recommended while careful snowpack evaluations will be necessary at near treeline elevations, especially on northerly facing or wind loaded slopes.

If you are heading deep into the snow favored mountains today, expect to encounter very real avalanche conditions. Avoiding northerly facing and wind loaded slopes will be a good place to start, while keeping an eye out for potential overhead hazards. Careful snowpack evaluations and managing the storm slab avalanche problem on south to east facing slopes will be a better option. Further avoiding slopes greater than 35 degrees or convex terrain features will limit you exposure to the avalanche problem.

Avalanche size/distribution and danger ratings decrease as you head east across our forecast area into the Crested Butte, Brush Creek and Cement Creek zones.