130 PM PST SUN FEB 10 2008...corrected zones && ZONE AVALANCHE FORECASTS * OLYMPICS-WASHINGTON CASCADES GLACIER PEAK NORTH- Sunday and Monday: HIGH avalanche danger above 4-5000 feet and considerable below. * WASHINGTON CASCADES SOUTH OF GLACIER PEAK- Sunday: HIGH avalanche danger above 4-5000 feet and considerable below. Monday: CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger below 7000 feet. * MT HOOD AREA- Sunday: HIGH avalanche danger above 5-6000 feet and considerable below. Monday: CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger below 7000 feet. SNOWPACK ANALYSIS Stormy strong west winds, very heavy snowfall and a warming trend caused a major historic avalanche cycle the past few days. Snow accumulations ranged from 3-7 feet at Hurricane and sites near and west of the Cascade crest. This built heavier deep surface slab layers on many slopes. Major avalanches occurred during the past few days. Some large and infrequently active avalanche paths released during the avalanche cycle. Avalanches closed all the highway corridors across the Cascades, the Paradise road, and the Mt Baker highway as a precaution. A house was destroyed near Lake Wenatchee and an avalanche ran into the main Alpental parking lot. Several of the avalanches are reported to have large trees in the debris indicating larger than usual avalanches. Stevens Pass remains closed so far on Sunday during ongoing avalanche clean up efforts. Light amounts of rain or snow and some snow pack consolidation was also seen Saturday. This should have generally given the snow pack some time to begin to adjust to the stresses from all the recent loads and warming. The avalanches and consolidating should have lowered the previous extreme avalanche danger. But the snowpack in the Olympics and Cascades is still undergoing a major transition. The makes conditions uncertain and therefore a lot of caution is still warranted. No back country reports are available due to little or no back country travel and a lack of access. SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT A cold front should cross the Northwest on Sunday. This should be accompanied by west winds, moderate amounts of rain or snow and cooling temperatures. This should mainly bring more snow pack consolidating and stabilizing. But recent heavier damp surface layers should linger on some slopes. Back country travel near avalanche terrain is still not recommended due to uncertainty of conditions. MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT A warm front should mainly affect the Olympics and north Cascades on Monday. This should cause some rain or snow especially in the Olympics and north Cascades with warmer temperatures. This should maintain damp heavier unstable surface snow especially in this area. Back country travel near avalanche terrain is not recommended in this area. Rain or snow should be lighter in the central and south Cascades. However more warming should also be seen in the area on Monday. This should allow for further consolidation and stabilizing in that area. Back country travel on skis may be less than ideal on Monday due to damp heavier and potentially unstable surface snow layers. Caution is also still advised near avalanche terrain the central and south Cascades. &&