North Cascades Highway temporarily closed
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 | 3:39 pm
The North Cascades Highway will be closed at least until Monday because of a forecast of heavy snow for the Cascades.
It’s hoped the highway can be reopened before Thanksgiving, said Dustin Terpening, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.
More than a foot of snow is forecast for Thursday and some snow is expected to continue to fall through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
The highway was closed Tuesday night for 37 miles - from seven miles east of Diablo Dam on the west side of Rainy Pass (elevation 4,855 feet) to nine miles west of Mazama below Washington Pass (elevation 5,477).
State maintenance crews worked around the clock from last Friday through Tuesday plowing and sanding the 3 to 5 inches of snow that fell each day during that period, Terpening said.
Crews will assess the conditions on Monday to see if the highway can be reopened for Thanksgiving before it shuts down for the winter. Last year it closed on Dec. 1.
“If we can clear it relatively easily and safely, we will,” Terpening said.
Once the highway closes, it typically stays closed until the spring. Last season it reopened May 23, marking the second latest in the highway’s 39-year history. Highway 20 typically reopens between the last week in March and the first week in May. The earliest opening ever was March 10, 2005. In 1976, a drought year, it remained open all winter.
Visit the North Cascades web page the state’s North Cascades Highway web page
and the North Cascades Flickr photo site for more information.
E-mail us at stsmarts@heraldnet.com. Please include your city of residence.
It’s hoped the highway can be reopened before Thanksgiving, said Dustin Terpening, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.
More than a foot of snow is forecast for Thursday and some snow is expected to continue to fall through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
The highway was closed Tuesday night for 37 miles - from seven miles east of Diablo Dam on the west side of Rainy Pass (elevation 4,855 feet) to nine miles west of Mazama below Washington Pass (elevation 5,477).
State maintenance crews worked around the clock from last Friday through Tuesday plowing and sanding the 3 to 5 inches of snow that fell each day during that period, Terpening said.
Crews will assess the conditions on Monday to see if the highway can be reopened for Thanksgiving before it shuts down for the winter. Last year it closed on Dec. 1.
“If we can clear it relatively easily and safely, we will,” Terpening said.
Once the highway closes, it typically stays closed until the spring. Last season it reopened May 23, marking the second latest in the highway’s 39-year history. Highway 20 typically reopens between the last week in March and the first week in May. The earliest opening ever was March 10, 2005. In 1976, a drought year, it remained open all winter.
Visit the North Cascades web page the state’s North Cascades Highway web page
and the North Cascades Flickr photo site for more information.
E-mail us at stsmarts@heraldnet.com. Please include your city of residence.
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