Digging Out Washington Passes of Snow
Crews are still struggling with digging out of Washington’s cold winter grip this spring!
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Washington State DOT Crews Clearing Mountain Passes of Snow
Spring is here, but Washinton State mountain passes don’t clear themselves. Some mountain passes would take months to naturally cleared of snow in order to be passable without the hard work of these crews.
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Snoqualmie Pass is almost always open all year long, but many of Washington’s mountain passes are closed because of deep snow.
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Cayuse Pass
Cayuse Pass has 322 inches of snow that crews are trying to remove from roads and Washington State facilities for spring. That amount of snow is about average for Cayuse Pass according to NOAA records.
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As of updates on April 10th, crews have cleared 3 miles of SR-123 on the north side of the pass. the west side of SR-410 also has had a lot of work done by Washington State crews.
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Chinook Pass
The crews just started to clear Chinook Pass on April 3rd, clearing over 160 inches of snow. The report for Chinook Pass at 5,500 feet was a total of 164 inches of snow for 2023.
By April 6th, crews had cleared from Lodgepole all the way to the gate at Morse Creek. They have also cleared past the SR-410 gate on the east side of the pass.
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Recognize This Structure Sticking Out of the Snow?
If you look at the picture above, it is from a structure near the summit of Chinook Pass buried in snow. Do you recognize what it is?
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If you have been there, you will recognize the bathrooms by the 3 chimney structures sticking out of the snow. These are probably the coldest bathrooms in the northwest, at least for a few more months.
Rock Blasting Starts Soon in Washington State
Snow is not the only thing Washington State DOT crews are clearing this spring, they also have rock blasting in Snoqualmie Pass. Blasting will not start until June and then runs through October. Vantage, Roslyn, Hyak, and Issaquah areas are all planned for rock blasting this spring.
6 Weapons That Are Highly Illegal To Own in Washington State
We had a few of these as kids, now you’ll go to jail for them in Washington State.