Mountain Snow Snarls Traffic Over The Cascades

SNOQUALMIE PASS, WA — While the snow continues to melt across the lowlands, headaches continued in the mountain passes Tuesday. Snoqualmie Pass and Stevens Pass were fully closed into the afternoon, leaving just White Pass open.

The prolonged Snoqualmie closure, in place between North Bend and Ellensburg, started Monday and lasted into early Tuesday afternoon, as the Washington State Department of Transportation monitored "extreme avalanche danger." Officials recorded more than 46 inches of snow between Friday and Tuesday morning over Snoqualmie Pass, with nearly half that total recorded Monday. Snoqualmie fully reopened around 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Stevens Pass started off Tuesday open with chains required for all vehicles, but transportation officials announced a full closure shortly before noon, following several spin-outs. WSDOT announced the closure would remain in place until at least 8 a.m. Wednesday, due to significant snowfall accumulating more than four inches per hour.

The wintry conditions over the passes follow one of the snowiest lowland storms in recent memory, which brought along its own traffic headaches over the weekend. According to Washington State Patrol, troopers responded to 386 crashes in King County between Friday and Monday, a total almost 300 percent higher than an average weekend.

According to the National Weather Service, both passes were forecast to pick up another foot of snow by Tuesday evening. Wednesday should bring a break in the weather for all, with partly sunny conditions and more moderate conditions in the mountains and the lowlands. Forecasters expect rain and mountain snow will return Thursday.