Backcountry Avalanche Forecast for Steamboat & Flat Tops 	
Issued: 02/20/2011 7:20 AM by Brian Lazar

Avalanche Watch in Effect through 02/20/2011 9:00 AM

An avalanche watch is in effect until 9am Sunday morning.  One to two feet of snow is forecast to 
fall by Sunday morning with moderate to strong southwesterly winds.  If this forecast pans out, we 
will see widespread areas of HIGH (Level 4) danger tomorrow. Avalanche danger will ramp up quickly 
this afternoon and tonight as the storm arrives. 

Highlights

The avalanche watch has been dropped for the Steamboat zone.  The heaviest snowfall missed the zone, 
but localized heavier amounts did fall in some locations. Some additional light snowfall and 
continued south to west winds will keep danger steady on Sunday.

Avalanche Danger

The avalanche danger for the Steamboat zone is CONSIDERABLE (Level 3) on northwest through east 
aspects near and above treeline.  Storm slabs will build and be easy to trigger by late this 
afternoon. The danger is MODERATE (Level 2) on all other aspects and elevations.

Snow & Avalanche Discussion

Just 3 to 5 inches of heavy new snow fell across most of the Steamboat zone in the last 24 hours. 
Remote weather stations at Ripple Creek and Bison Lake seemed to have received heavier precipitation 
with around of inch of water falling in those locations in the last 18 hours. Moderate to strong 
winds from the southwest to the southeast continued overnight and drifted any available snow into 
thin fresh storm slabs on northwest through east aspects. The strong winds have cross-loaded areas 
on many slopes, and loaded slopes further down the start zones. Light snowfall and wind today will 
add to these slabs, which are poorly bonded to the older underlying snow.

Weather Discussion for 11,000ft 	Issued: 02/20/2011 11:37 AM by Brian Lazar 	

The jet is exiting Colorado this afternoon ahead of the incoming low-pressure trough. Snowfall has 
begun to wind down, and has stopped altogether in many mountain locations. Colder air remains aloft, 
fueling some continued instability and light and scattered convective snow showers for the remainder 
of the afternoon. By this evening the flow will back to west and produce some light orographic 
snowfall which will favor the Central and Northern Mountains. The trough axis will pass over Colorado 
as an open wave tonight, and light snowfall will continue. Accumulations will not add up to more than 
an inch or two by Monday morning.

Very light and scattered snowfall continues in the Central and Northern Mountains on Monday and into 
Monday evening, as some weak impulses embedded in the trailing northwest flow move into Colorado. 
The next significant system is a closed low currently digging south from the Gulf Alaska, which looks 
to move on shore over California sometime Tuesday evening.