Teams with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) have been assessing snowpack around the state ahead of this week's snowstorm and are warning the public about the increasing avalanche danger. The CAIC reported that avalanche danger will increase Tuesday and Wednesday, leaving dangerous conditions that will persist through the holiday weekend. Heavy snow will overload the current snowpack, which means it will be easy for a person to trigger an avalanche from a far distance or below a slope, but also that avalanches will happen naturally, CAIC said. Currently, both an avalanche watch and an avalanche warning are in place, the National Weather Service (NWS) said. As a reminder, during avalanche watches, people should be prepared and expect the avalanche danger to reach high or extreme levels. During avalanche warnings, avalanche danger levels are already high or extreme. The warning applies to the West Elk Mountains and southern Sawatch Ranch around Monarch Pass. It lasts through Wednesday but does not have an exact time it expires. The watch, which ends at 5 p.m. Wednesday, includes the Park Range, Flat Tops, Gore Range, Indian Peaks, Sawatch Range, Elk Mountains, western San Juan Mountains and southern San Juan Mountains, according to the NWS. "Avalanche danger increases rapidly on Tuesday afternoon," its report reads. "Very dangerous avalanche conditions Tuesday night through Wednesday."Two places that will see a "high" threat of avalanches, which is a 4 out of 5 ranking on CAIC's danger scale, lie in Colorado's central mountains. One of those places includes the Ruby Mountain and Monarch Pass areas in Colorado's central mountains, west of Poncha Springs. A map of this area is in red below. CAIC said it is not quite sure about when the danger will increase here from "considerable" (level 3 out of 5) to "high," but it will likely be between 1-4 p.m. Tuesday. The second location that will see "high" threats from avalanches is the Ragged Mountain area located within the Elk Mountain range west of Crested Butte. This area is shown in red below. The danger is slightly higher here than in the Ruby Mountain and Monarch Pass areas. "Conditions will quickly worsen and a natural avalanche cycle will likely begin running its course," CAIC reported. "By Wednesday morning, we are far more confident that many areas will pass that tipping point and we will have widespread very dangerous avalanche conditions across most of the Central Mountains... The snowiest areas are showing over four inches of water and up to five feet of snow by the end of the day Wednesday. Most of the Central Mountains will see at least half of that."The Flat Top Mountains, Gore Range, Sawatch Range and Indian Peaks are expected to pick up a foot or two of snow with this storm. If you're headed into the backcountry this week or weekend, make sure to give all steep slopes a wide buffer, CAIC said. It recommends avoiding all avalanche terrain until at least Thursday. Always check the avalanche before heading out into the backcountry during the snowy season. You can find this information, and more, on CAIC's website here. This season, Colorado has recorded two avalanche accidents involving people. The first happened on Nov. 9 on Trico Peak, west of Red Mountain Pass. Two people were caught, but not buried, in this avalanche. The second happened near Second Creek north of Berthoud Pass. One person was caught, but also not buried. Both people survived. Last season, about 120 incidents a season record were reported. In total, 149 people were caught in an avalanche that season, which exceeded the 10-year average of 80 incidents with 98 people caught, according to CAIC data. Two of the avalanches last season ended with fatalities, with one in Gunnison County and one in San Miguel County. Eleven people died in the 2022-2023 season.In December 2023, CAIC launched a new interactive map that pinpoints where fatal avalanches have happened across the state since 2009 so people can educate themselves on the dangers of specific areas or slopes. The program, called the Avalanche Accident Explorer, was launched as a collaboration between the CAIC and Colorado Mountain College.