Snoqualmie Pass has had 236 inches of snow so far this season - the most in 10 years
Snoqualmie Pass has gotten more snow so far this season than in the last 10 years, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.
As of Tuesday morning, the cumulative snowfall on the pass is 236 inches, Summer Derrey, a spokesperson for WSDOT, told McClatchy News in a phone interview. The 10-year average for cumulative snowfall this early in the season is 156 inches, according to Derrey.
Twenty-three inches of that snow fell in 24 hours between Monday and Tuesday, the Snoqualmie Pass Twitter page said. The snowpack is also above average for this time of year at 102 inches, according to Derrey.
Gerrey started pouring through the historical snowfall data after seeing officials announced chains would be required to travel over the pass Monday night, she told McClatchy. It surprised her because the forecast did not call for that much snowfall, the transportation official said.
Thinking there may be an error in the data, Derrey reached out to avalanche officials, who confirmed 23 inches had fallen in 24 hours. What was especially interesting to Derrey was that there had been no road closures, despite an inch of snow falling per hour, she said.
There are a couple likely reasons officials did not decide to close the pass, according to Derrey. Traffic volumes are usually lower on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Derrey says, plus the snow was wet and only falling at the summit of Snoqualmie while lower elevations only saw rain.
While it’s a bit early to say this season will see above average snowfall overall, the numbers are trending that way. Records indicate that the pass saw the most snowfall in a season in 1949 to 1950, when 696 inches accumulated.
The heavy amount of precipitation that has accumulated over the last 24 hours prompted officials at the Northwest Avalanche Center to issue an avalanche warning Tuesday morning, the agency’s website says. As of Tuesday afternoon, the warning is due to expire Tuesday evening, according to the agency.
The avalanche center has ranked the avalanche danger for Tuesday as “high.”
“Whether you’re dealing with storm slabs in dry snow or rain on snow creating wet loose avalanches, avalanches can be large and difficult to escape,” the agency said. “Keep your travel simple and avoid all slopes near and above treeline where avalanches can start, stop, or run.”
This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 2:05 PM with the headline "Snoqualmie Pass has had 236 inches of snow so far this season - the most in 10 years."