The other avalanche: Roofs heavy with snow in Colorado create danger

All along the areas hardest hit by heavy snow in last week's storm, the sounds of melting snow dripping then occasionally sliding off roofs creates a few nervous moments.

"If that ice dam falls down, that'll kill you," said Dave Krajicek as he worked to clear the snow from the roof above his front door in Nederland.

"That weighs 60, 80 pounds, a chunk of it," he said.

The danger was apparent after snow slid off a roof in Breckenridge Monday, hitting two teenagers visiting from the Midwest who were out playing with icicles. Both were partially buried in debris. One was seriously injured. Fortunately rescuers were able to dig them out, but it left firefighters shaken.

"And I think this was just a stark reminder and and a real eye opening experience for us," said Dave Hoehn of the Red White and Blue Fire District in Breckenridge.

"I grew up in the Midwest and that's what we did. But the danger and the risk wasn't in the Midwest," said Hoehn.

"I think that's generally what happens. This does happen to kids quite often," said Mike Cooperstein, regional manager for the Northern Mountains region for the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

"They're outside playing outside the residence that they're at. They're on vacation. They're doing something different than they normally do."

Snow off roofs can be compacted. Spring is the greatest risk with melting. The weight of the snow can be twenty pounds per square foot, said Hoehn. Add that up and it's extremely heavy.

"If they're buried completely, it's just like being buried in an avalanche. Eventually they'll asphyxiate if somebody doesn't know they're there," said Cooperstein.

The Avalanche Information Center said the last roof avalanche fatality in Colorado was in March of 2023, near Durango when two children and a father were buried in a slide. One of the children died. Five people are known to have lost their lives from roof slides over the past 30 years and there have been many more injuries and close calls.

"Unfortunately it's young kids or elderly people," said Cooperstein of those who have been impacted the most.

Roofing material is part of it. Metal roofs lead to earlier slides. Asphalt tends to hold the snow back better, but with the melting that happens in warm spring temperatures, water can run under the snow and soon it loses its grip.

Barriers and snow melting systems can certainly help. It is far less of a problem in the metro area where storms are less frequent and temperatures higher. But as the Spring mountain snowpack falls, it build weight that's harder to hold back.

"It's pretty dense. Very compact stuff which makes it very heavy," said Cooperstein.

Getting up onto roofs to shovel it off has its own risks. Overall, it's good just to know of the risks and stay back.

"Just give those places a wide margin, that will help a lot," said Cooperstein.