SNOQUALMIE PASS, Wash. — A Blizzard Warning has expired for the Cascade and Olympic mountains, which were blasted with snow for two days.
A Winter Storm Warning preceded the Blizzard Warning for the Olympics and Cascade Mountains. The National Weather Service (NWS) activated the Blizzard Warning an hour early at 3 a.m. Tuesday as conditions deteriorated in the mountain passes.
The Blizzard Warning remained in place through 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
The weather service hasn't issued a Blizzard Warning in over a decade, and it's only issued them four times since the turn of the century. The other warnings were in 2006, 2008 and 2012.
As of Wednesday morning, Stevens Pass and White Pass both saw at least 33 inches of snow this week. Mount Baker saw 28 inches and Snoqualmie Pass got 24 inches.
Travel difficulties began on Monday when eastbound Interstate 90 closed and reopened twice over Snoqualmie Pass due to crashes and spinouts blocking the roadway. The Snoqualmie Pass account on X, formerly known as Twitter, described keeping the roadway open as a "tug of war" and warned drivers to pay close attention to and follow traction requirements as well as drive slowly, advising drivers that the weather is only expected to get worse.
