Changing drivers of regional large magnitude avalanche frequency throughout Colorado, USA

Peitzsch, Erich H.; Martin, Justin T.; Greene, Ethan M.; Eckert, Nicolas; Favillier, Adrien; Konigsberg, Jason; Kichas, Nickolas; Stahle, Daniel K.; Birkeland, Karl W.; Elder, Kelly; Pederson, Gregory T.

doi:10.5194/nhess-26-1059-2026

Articles | Volume 26, issue 3

https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-1059-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-1059-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 26, issue 3

Research article

|

04 Mar 2026

Research article |

| 04 Mar 2026

Changing drivers of regional large magnitude avalanche frequency throughout Colorado, USA

Erich H. Peitzsch, Justin T. Martin, Ethan M. Greene, Nicolas Eckert, Adrien Favillier, Jason Konigsberg, Nickolas Kichas, Daniel K. Stahle, Karl W. Birkeland, Kelly Elder, and Gregory T. Pederson

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-1059-2026-supplement

Data sets

Tree ring dataset for a regional avalanche chronology in Colorado 1319-2022 Erich H. Peitzsch et al. https://doi.org/10.5066/P1353HSN

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Short summary

Snow avalanches pose substantial risks to communities and public safety in Colorado. We studied tree growth patterns impacted by avalanches from 1698 to 2020 alongside meteorological data. We found variations in avalanche frequency revealing a decline in regional avalanche activity and shifts in the causes of these types of large and widespread avalanche events. This knowledge can enhance avalanche safety measures and infrastructure design.