I-90 Closed for Epic Snowfall!

And 109" in six days at White Pass!!!

Now the power is out at Snoqualmie Pass.

Now the power is out at Snoqualmie Pass.

Word on my website is the substation at Hyak is down. No word yet as to how long before power is restored.

“I am seeing historical levels of avalanche risk along the I-90 Snoqualmie Pass corridor,” said Craig Wilbour, WSDOT avalanche expert. “The possibility exists of large destructive avalanches in areas with no history of avalanche activity.”

What strikes me is how differently this storm has affected the various passes. Snoqualmie has been shut down almost continuously this week. Stevens has had a few closures, but has stayed open most of the time. White Pass has been open continuously. My question: Did the big I-90 redesign in the 1980s create a more vulnerable highway than existed before? One thing that always puzzled me was the removal of the big snowshed on the old highway grade (today's eastbound lanes) just west of the pass. The reasons for that were never clear to me. Yesterday's paper said that the state economy is losing $700,000 and hour when I-90 is closed. I wonder if the legislature (or the feds) will consider improving some of the structural defenses along I-90 after this. Or will they figure this is a once in a lifetime winter and it's not worth changing anything?

I drove over White Pass on Wednesday and Thursday to get from Seattle to and from my presentation in Ellensburg. It was a long drive but I had no problems with the road conditions.

With all the talk on I-90, Colorado comparisons, history etc. .... I followed a link from a TAY member:

hyak.net/hyak/pics/vintage/vintage2.html

Check out the "Winter Scene, Sunset Highway Near Summit", now there's a snowpack !... and an awesome snow removal job. Though probably not done overnight... Is that the old road bed accessed from the turn near Alpental ?

However, at that time there certainly was not the expectation of today's society of jetting to the pass for an afternoon of turns.

We (I) are (am) spoiled: checking webcams for a window of opportunity, skiing the powder, then having a State Patrol escort to take us (me) home westbound on the eastbound lanes. Thank you WADOT for the great ski on 1/30 !

From the avy forecast:

Examples include 5-8 ft explosive controlled slabs
near Snoqualmie Pass and Mt Hood Meadows, most probably
releasing on facets near the mid-Jan crust. Also a
moderate angled slope called Neverslides did, releasing
3-4 ft deep from explosives on Friday. This 2500 ft
elevation, 33 degree cut bank slope affecting I-90
fractured 100% of the path over 250 ft wide and deposited
considerable debris on the at-the-time closed highway.
Also, a controlled large slab release from the Denny Mt
paths became airborne and destructive, depositing both
timber and debris on the elevated west bound lanes of I-
90 while also taking out a weather station. All in all, a
pretty unstable snowpack.

Looks like we lost beloved OSOALP . Trees on the elevated part of the highway?! Wowzers.

Also, an FYI for those of us who'd been thinking about exploring, toying with, and learning about the bountiful but malevolent snowpack from safe locations: WSDOT's keeping the Snoqualmie Sno-parks closed.

Thanks WSDOT for working hard to keep the Pass open. It's a privilege to get into the mountains as much as we do!