900 AM PST MON JAN 21 2008 && ZONE AVALANCHE FORECASTS * OLYMPICS- WASHINGTON CASCADES- MT HOOD AREA- Monday: Considerable avalanche danger above 5 to 6000 feet and moderate below. Tuesday: Considerable avalanche danger above 6000 feet and moderate below and slowly decreasing. SNOWPACK ANALYSIS Most areas both east and west of the crest have received between 4 to 12 inches of new snow between Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon, with the greatest amounts reported at Hurricane Ridge and Mission Ridge. The recent snow fell with dramatically cooling temperatures and has now been affected by strong east to northeast winds. The strong crest level winds have caused significant transport of the recent snow near ridges and at higher elevations building areas of unstable wind slab layers on lee slopes. The greatest current danger should exist at higher elevations near ridges on steep open slopes receiving wind transported snow, facing generally westerly. Earlier this week under fair weather widespread surface hoar developed and was reported in many sheltered areas. This layer may have been buried by the snow that fell recently and should be watched for as a potential weak layer. The previous storm moved through the area last Monday. This front began warm with many areas receiving rain or freezing rain thus producing a crust before depositing about 6 to 16 inches with strong winds. The cold weather of late as likely weakened the interface to this crust layer and several recent field reports are showing this in test pits. Prior to the recent wind event, the low cohesion unconsolidated surface snow was only producing some sloughing on steep slopes as there was no slab. However, with the current strong winds it is likely that things have changed dramatically. The steady east to northeast winds have likely scoured much snow from windward slopes and built slabs or hard slab layers near ridges. The safest and best snow will be found in protected gladded terrain away from ridges were great conditions can still be found. FORECASTS MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT Sunny and cold weather with strong east to northeast crest level winds Monday. The strong winds should build further unstable slab layers on lee slopes, mainly higher elevations near ridges. Some sensitive triggered slabs may develop, especially in areas where buried surface hoar may be present. Back country travelers should use extra caution and avoid steep open slopes receiving wind deposited snow, especially west to southwest facing slopes. Diminishing winds overnight should allow for a slow decrease in danger. TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT Sunny again Tuesday and cold with generally light to moderate easterly winds at crest level. This should allow for new unstable wind slabs to slowly settle. However, where previously formed wind slabs exist, mainly steep westerly facing slopes at higher elevations near ridges, triggered slab avalanches remain probable and caution is advised. &&