900 AM PST TUE MAR 4 2008 && ZONE AVALANCHE FORECASTS * OLYMPICS- WASHINGTON CASCADES NEAR AND WEST OF THE CREST- Tuesday: CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger above 4-5000 feet and MODERATE below. Increasing danger on slopes receiving sunshine during the afternoon, otherwise slowly decreasing danger through Tuesday night. Wednesday: CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger above 5-6000 feet and MODERATE below with a locally increasing danger in sun exposed slopes during the late morning and afternoon. * EAST SLOPES WASHINGTON CASCADES- Tuesday: CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger above 6000 feet and MODERATE below, gradually decreasing. Wednesday: MODERATE avalanche danger below 7000 feet with a locally CONSIDERABLE danger developing on sun exposed terrain during the late morning and afternoon hours. * MT HOOD AREA- Tuesday: CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger above 5000 feet and MODERATE below. Increasing danger on slopes receiving sunshine during the afternoon, otherwise slowly decreasing danger through Tuesday night. Wednesday: CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger above 6000 feet and MODERATE below with a locally increasing danger in sun exposed slopes during the late morning and afternoon. SNOWPACK ANALYSIS A front and additional showers Monday through early Tuesday deposited 6 to 12 inches of new snow over most west slope Cascade areas and Mt Hood with 1 to 3 inches over the east slopes since Monday morning. Previously 8 up to about 18 inches of snow were received last Friday and Saturday near and west of the crest. The snowpack below these recent snowfalls consists of well settled and consolidated snow and strong near surface crust layers in the upper snowpack formed during the mild and fair weather during much of last two weeks of February. In addition to the dominant melt-freeze or wind crust layers in the upper snowpack, some soft near surface faceted snow and buried surface hoar layers should be noted on north slopes and lower sheltered terrain. Some avalanche activity has occurred on these weak layers in the Northeast Washington Cascades over the past few days with one triggered 12 inch soft slab layer noted. The recent layers from Friday and Saturday should have mostly stabilized by Sunday evidenced by several reports of good powder skiing and mostly stable conditions on Sunday reported on the Turns All Year web site. This should shift the main concern to the newest snowfall layers in most cases. Very strong southwest to northwest crest level winds accompanied the most recent new snow and this has likely built some unstable wind deposited layers on steep lee slopes, mainly at higher elevations and near the Cascade crest as well as on the volcanic peaks where winds were strongest. The greatest current danger is likely from triggered slab avalanches on steeper terrain above about 4 to 5000 feet and this mainly on northeast to southeast facing slopes. However, shifting winds and local terrain affects may have built unstable layers on a variety of aspects and backcountry travelers are urged to take extra caution in avalanche terrain until these layers can stabilize. TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT Light snow showers should end by late morning along with decreasing winds. This should allow for a slow decrease in danger as recent unstable layers begin settling. Gradual clearing Tuesday afternoon should allow for some sun breaks causing a locally increased danger. Any sunshine being received Tuesday afternoon should cause the recent new snow to become rapidly unstable, especially on steep slopes facing the sun and in areas that received the most recent snow, such as near the Cascade crest and volcanoes. Cooling and clearing overnight should allow for a decreasing danger. WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT Mostly sunny with light winds and initially cool temperatures should allow for a further slow decrease in danger early Wednesday. Warming and sunshine later Wednesday should lead to an increasing danger, especially on steeper sun exposed terrain where some natural or triggered wet snow avalanches and possible slab avalanches should be possible or probable. Backcountry travelers should note that recently received snow can quickly become unstable when affected by stronger late winter sunshine and warming. Also, sunshine and warming can destabilize any recently formed cornices along ridges. Finally, at higher elevations recently formed wind slab or soft slab layers should continue to be assessed. &&