NORTH BEND, Wash. – A storm on the last day of winter dumped two feet of snow on Washington’s Cascade Range, raising the risk of avalanches and closing the state’s two most-heavily traveled east-west routes.
In the lowlands of northwest Washington, up to 10 inches of snow fell, making driving hazardous early Wednesday. Classes were canceled for more than 36,000 students.
Interstate 90 over Snoqualmie Pass and U.S. 2 over Stevens Pass were closed at midday Tuesday, as state Transportation Department crews worked to control avalanches and clear the roads of snow. Crews hoped to have Stevens Pass reopened by noon and Snoqualmie Pass by late afternoon.
To the south, U.S. 12 remained open though White Pass but compact snow and ice covered the road.
“It’s snow and there are trucks everywhere and we are packed,” said cashier Anita Goodman at Ken’s Truck Town in North Bend, about 20 miles west of Snoqualmie Pass. “They’re parked everywhere out here. They’re stuck, they can’t do nothing.”
Jean Clifton, a driver from Kingman, Ariz., said she and her husband, Bill, were losing money as they passed the time listening to the radio at the truck stop for weather updates. They had dropped off a load in Kent and were trying to get to Yakima to pick up another load.
Snow fell overnight from Everett northward into British Columbia. Bellingham had 10 inches and Whidbey Island reported 3 1/2 inches Wednesday morning with snow still falling. Eastsound on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands had 3 inches with temperatures in the 20s.
Classes were canceled in Mount Vernon, Bellingham, Anacortes, Sedro-Woolley, Burlington, Ferndale and other school districts in Skagit and Whatcom counties. To the south, schools opened late in much of Snohomish County.
No major traffic accidents were reported, though officials warned motorists to be careful on slick roads.
Operators of the Mount Baker Ski Area, 15 miles south of the Canadian border, said 103 inches of snow had fallen in the past 10 days.
A 60-person crew worked double shifts around the clock trying to clear Snoqualmie Pass after seven avalanches Tuesday, said coordinator Don Whitehouse of the Transportation Department. Fifty inches of snow fell in the past few days, he said Wednesday, bringing the total on the ground to 147 inches.
“The last thing we want is somebody caught in one of those avalanches,” Whitehouse said.
Chris Burke, a National Weather Service meteorologist, blamed the avalanche danger on heavy, wet snow falling on light, fluffy crystals that came down last weekend.
The Red Cross opened a shelter providing warm drinks, snacks, cots and blankets for stranded drivers at Si View Community Center in North Bend.
Stevens and Snoqualmie are major ski areas. While the storm brought several feet of rare late-winter powder, there was no way for skiiers to reach the resorts.
A five-mile stretch of Washington 20 also was closed between Newhalem and Diablo Dam in Skagit County and was expected to remain closed for two days. Farther east, the highway across the North Cascades had already been closed for the winter.
The highway department said a large amount of snow on the hillsides near the entrance to North Cascades National Park created the potential for avalanche.
“It’s really dangerous up there, too dangerous even for our people to go in and try to clear the road,” said spokeswoman Melanie Moores.
In Spokane, between 2 and 5 inches of heavy, wet snow covered roadways Wednesday morning with temperatures near freezing. There were few reports of accidents.
In northeast Washington, as much as 8 inches fell in Pend Oreille County and it was still snowing, but warmer temperatures were expected in the afternoon.
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