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Two Major Winter Storms Sweeping Across U.S. This Week: What to Expect

We’re on storm watch around here. When it comes to winter storms this season, we’ve certainly had no shortage.

There will be two major storms hitting the U.S. this week. As a result, snow will be dumped from coast to coast. Not to mention, there have already been close to 800 flights scheduled for Wednesday that have been canceled due to adverse weather conditions.

According to Daily Mail, the first of the snowstorms is going to bring a lot of snow to the Midwest as well as to New England on Tuesday. The weather will also bring fierce winds along with it for a couple of days.

On the other side of the country, the weather will get tricky as well. California through Nevada and into Colorado will get more than a foot of snow as well as powerful wind gusts of more than 40 miles per hour. This will all happen from Tuesday through Thursday afternoon.

This all makes for rather hazardous road conditions. From snow-packed roads, windy conditions, and possible ice, people should travel appropriately. Not to mention, high spots in southwestern Colorado are looking at a snow accumulation closer to three feet in the coming days. Not necessarily ideal conditions for people looking to hit the snow slopes.

So, no matter where you are it seems, you may have to deal with some snowy or icy conditions this week.

Avalanche Risk Increases in Certain Areas

For many skiers and snowboarders, the end of February and the beginning of March is the ideal time to hit the slopes.

With these winter weather conditions, some people may be thinking twice about that.

According to The Denver Channel, right now is a dangerous time to be on the mountains. Starting on Wednesday, Colorado was expected to see some of the most dangerous avalanche conditions of the season so far. The winter weather will likely cause several natural avalanches.

Even scarier, there is an increased risk that human-triggered avalanches will also happen in the area. This is all due to the foot of snow that is coming to the mountains throughout this week. Avalanche watch went into effect in the Gunnison and Aspen zones starting on Monday evening. The worst conditions will be west of the Continental Divide.

There have already been reports of about 41 human-triggered avalanches just in the past week alone.

If you’re still going to hit the mountains this week, take several precautions. For starters, visit the CAIC website to check the avalanche forecast for the area you’re planning on visiting. While on the mountain, be sure to avoid any wind-drifted areas of snow that can result in a beyond-dangerous situation.

Lastly, never hit the mountains on your own. Bring a helmet, avalanche beacon, avalanche airbag, avalanche probe, and a small shovel. All of these items can be the difference between life and death during these increased avalanche risk areas.