Heavy snow combined with blustery winds to bring near white-out conditions to I-90 along Snoqualmie Pass, according to the WSDOT.
Multiple spinouts have forced occasional closures of the pass. Eastbound lanes were shut down just after 8:30 a.m. for about an hour to clear wrecks, WSDOT officials said while westbound remained open with chains required. Earlier, multiple spinouts closed a 37-mile stretch of I-90 through much of the mountains late Thursday night into the wee hours of Friday morning, reopening just after 1 a.m. with chain requirements for all vehicles except 4 wheel/all wheel drive.
WSDOT officials said 18 inches of snow had fallen at Snoqualmie Pass since the storm began Thursday night and more snow was continuing to fall. A total of 28 inches of snow was up there combined with earlier storms.
A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect all the way into 4 a.m. Saturday as the storm is expected to continue to bring snowfall in the Cascades into Friday night and the passes could see an additional 10-18 inches of snow by then.
In the lowlands, expect rain at times for much of the day with a risk of scattered thunderstorms as the front passes and cool, unstable air moves in in its wake.
It will be blustery through the day with gusts in the Puget Sound area as much as 30-35 mph with higher gusts likely along the coast and along Whidbey Island.
Speaking of the coast, heavy surf is likely with waves of 15-20 feet combining with King Tides for minor beach erosion and debris run-ups. The Skokomish River is also likely to have minor flooding with all the rain.
The weather will be relatively calm over the weekend with just scattered showers at times, but there is no "rest for the dreary" as an active storm pattern holds into much of next week with a number of storms lined up to bring periods of steady rains and blustery winds.
These storms look to have warmer origins and will likely just bring rain to the passes, but may also start to put pressure on our area rivers.
Reader Comments
She had moved to near Seattle and was going through a divorce with some psychotic SOB from hell. (Long, long story which involved gun issues; see the AB.)
Anyway, we split from down there and spent our time at a cabin at Snoqualmie, skied, and life was lived.
R.C.