915 AM PST SUN JAN 27 2008 && ZONE AVALANCHE FORECASTS * OLYMPICS, WASHINGTON CASCADES NEAR AND WEST OF THE CREST- MT HOOD AREA- ...AVALANCHE WARNING... HIGH avalanche danger above 4000 feet and CONSIDERABLE below early Sunday. Avalanche danger slowly but gradually decreasing later Sunday through Monday afternoon, becoming CONSIDERABLE above 4000 feet and MODERATE below. Avalanche danger increasing Monday night becoming HIGH above 5000 feet and CONSIDERABLE below. * WASHINGTON CASCADES EAST OF THE CREST- ...AVALANCHE WARNING... HIGH avalanche danger above 4000 feet and CONSIDERABLE below early Sunday. Avalanche danger slowly decreasing later Sunday and early Monday becoming CONSIDERABLE above 4000 feet and MODERATE below. Increasing danger Monday night becoming CONSIDERABLE below 7000 feet. SNOWPACK ANALYSIS The first new snow in nearly a week fell Saturday through early Sunday depositing some 6 to 12 inches of new snow in most areas of the Olympics and near or west of the Cascade crest with 3 to 6 inches along the east slopes. The new snow has fallen with a period of strong southwest to northwest winds Saturday night and early Sunday morning and onto a variety of weak layers. These weak layers include widespread surface hoar in wind and sun sheltered areas, weak near surface faceted snow formed by recent strong temperatures gradients in the upper snowpack, wind or sun crusts all formed during the past week of clear and cold weather. A period of very strong east winds occurred last Monday following the last storm that deposited 6 to 12 inches f snow. The wind and sunshine and brief period of warmer temperatures all combined to create a wide variation in surface snow conditions through the week. This should make the current conditions also highly variable based upon the existence of buried surface hoar or other faceted snow layers. Surface hoar is likely to have been previously destroyed in many starting zones due to wind or sun however, it may exist in sheltered pockets but difficult to determine without testing. In any event, the current snowpack structure of various weak layers overlying good sliding surfaces with new surface wind slab layers are all combining to cause an increased danger. Natural or triggered avalanches should be likely in steep open slopes where strong winds occurred with the recent snow. The greatest danger should be at higher elevations where winds have been strongest and built the greatest wind slab layers, however unstable snow conditions should be expected at all elevations and we are urging extra caution and to avoid steep open slopes until the new layers have had time to settle. Early morning control results from both Mt Baker and Stevens Pass Sunday morning produced ski cut soft slabs ranging from 3 to 6 inches and running within weak layers within the new snow. Backcountry areas should be significantly different however due to the lack of rough heavily skied underlying snow conditions. SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT Decreasing winds and decreasing snow showers are expected Sunday with cool temperatures. The cold temperatures should slow the settlement and stabilization process of the new unstable layers. This should maintain mostly unstable snow, especially early Sunday; however there should also be widespread variations in snow conditions due to wind affects and variable underlying snow conditions. We advise extra caution and to avoid avalanche terrain Sunday. Slowly settling weak layers late Sunday should allow for a decreasing danger. MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT Light occasional snow showers and light winds Monday but remaining cold. The cold temperatures should slow the settlement process of unstable snow layers; however the overall trend should be for decreasing avalanche danger. The greatest danger should remain at higher elevations near ridges where earlier unstable wind slab layers should persist. We urge continued caution and to avoid steep slopes of questionable snowpack stability. &&