Local News

Traffic on Snoqualmie Pass, four miles east of the summit, was restarted at 9:20 p.m. Tuesday after about an hour of closure for avalanche-control work.

Work took place near milepost 58. Eastbound traffic was stopped at milepost 56 near Gold Creek; westbound traffic was stopped at milepost 61 near Price Creek.

Tonight and in the very early morning, snow removal is scheduled at two locations on Snoqualmie Pass.

Eastbound traffic will be stopped at milepost 47, Denny Creek at 11:55 p.m. At 2 a.m.  Wednesday, westbound traffic will be stopped at milepost 61 near Price Creek. This work mean in road closures of about one hour at each location.

The Washington State Patrol has temporarily closed Snoqualmie Pass until about 9 p.m. tonight due to several accidents and blizzard conditions near the summit area.

On eastbound I-90, the pass is closed at North Bend (milepost 34), westbound I-90 is closed near Ellensburg (milepost 106). The closure went into effect at about 5 p.m., and is expected to last until 9 p.m., according to the state patrol.

DOUG ESSER
Associated Press

Heavy snow in the Cascades is common this time of year, but forecasters were surprised by sudden, heavy bursts of snow.

Compact snow and ice on the road means chains required in both directions on Snoqualmie Pass. (DOT highway camera / Snoqualmie Summit)

Nothing says winter like this: Chains are required on all vehicles going over Snoqualmie Pass in both directions right now (2:30 p.m.) unless you have an all-wheel drive vehicle, says the state Department of Transportation.

Oversize vehicles are prohibited.

It’s snowing up there and there is snow and ice on the roadway.

The forecast has called for 1 to 2 feet of snow in the Cascades by tomorrow morning.

After a sloppy morning commute, the afternoon traffic is flowing better than expected on Seattle-area highways.

“It actually looks like a normal Monday,” said Bronlea Mishler, a spokeswoman at the Washington State Department of Transportation’s traffic-control center in Shoreline.

There were no major blocking crashes at 5:45 p.m., she said. Collisions were cleared earlier at the West Seattle Bridge exit of I-5, and at southbound Highway 99 near the Battery Street Tunnel.

Commuter trains were less fortunate. Mudslides canceled service on the Northline Sounder  to Edmonds, Mukilteo and Everett, until at least Wednesday afternoon. And the Southline Sounder to the Green River Valley, Tacoma and Lakewood was likely to be delayed 15 to 20 minutes per trip, said a Sound Transit alert.

Snoqualmie and Stevens passes are open, while North Cascades Highway is closed, at least temporarily.

There are many parts of the state, particularly the lower Columbia River area, where floods and downed trees are blocking state highways, Mishler said. Also, the city of Kirkland closed Totem Lake Boulevard because of standing water.

A cold front headed toward the Pacific Northwest this weekend could sink snow levels down to as low as 3,000 feet and dust a few inches onto Snoqualmie Pass and Stevens Pass, according to the National Weather Service.

Not much accumulation is expected where it does snow, so it’s not likely to have a significant impact on traffic over the passes, according to weather-service meteorologist Dennis D’Amico. He also doesn’t think enough snow will drop to jump start ski season.

“They need a couple feet for the season to start,” D’Amico said.

Some snow already fell on Tuesday just above the road level of Stevens Pass, according to D’Amico. Temperatures near the passes will hover at or above freezing temperatures through the weekend and maybe longer, he said.

D’Amico said the entire region will be cooling down over the next week. Seattle will have intermittent showers over the weekend, especially on Saturday, and lows in the 50s, he said.

“We’re not looking at any big warm-up in the next week,” D’Amico said.

Weather: Yesterday’s drizzle was just a fluke. No rain in the forecast for the next week. Clear skies today through next Monday, and the temperature returns to the 70s Thursday and Friday. Some forecasts say we could reach into the 80s on Thursday. Can’t knock that now, can we? The National Weather Service forecast.

Traffic: The map and cams.

Nudes, photos and a fetish website: Someone placed or hung photos of nude women at military veterans’ gravesites in Seattle’s Evergreen Washelli Cemetery, took photos of what he’d done and posted them on his fetish website, according to a story on KING5. One photo was hung on a cannon and another on a war memorial. We agree with one retired general when she said the act was abhorrent. Police are investigating.

Children’s advocacy group supports recreational use marijuana initiative: What? The Children’s Alliance says it supports the initiative because youngsters in minority households pay “a terrible price” for racially biased enforcement of marijuana laws, according to the group’s deputy director.

Poll: Those automated speed cameras: We noted yesterday that the state will use automated speed cameras at Snoqualmie Pass to keep drivers from speeding through the construction zones up there. The cameras will be in an SUV parked along the road and will snap pix of your license plate if you’re speeding. You could face a $137 fine. Do you agree with the state’s decision to use automated speed cameras to make driving safer in the construction zones at the pass?

Child porn arrest at Joint Base Lewis-McChord: A soldier is accused of using Facebook to meet teen girls and force them to send him pornographic photos and videos of themselves, using money, gifts and threats to get them to do it. He threatened to post the images of the teens online if they didn’t comply. KOMO TV has the story.

Most-read stories this morning on seattletimes.com:

1. Backyard houses catch the eye of City Council
2. Tree fosters dispute over what’s a good neighbor
3. Seahawks’ fourth-quarter failures familiar, costly | Jerry Brewer
4. The world’s No. 1 jumbo jet languishes, looking for a savior
5. City Council reaches revised arena deal

Washington State Department of Transportation

If you speed in the construction zones on I-90 at Snoqualmie Pass, be ready for a camera to snap your picture and to be ticketed.

Starting next Monday, an automated speed-enforcement camera will be set up to try to slow you down and make things safer up there, says the state Department of Transportation.

Drivers will see signs warning “Speed limit photo enforced” along the five-mile work zone on I-90 at Snoqualmie Pass from Hyak to Keechelus Dam, where a new, six-lane highway is being built.

A small SUV equipped with the automated camera will be parked near the highway to check your speed both eastbound and westbound. If you’re driving over the speed limit, the camera will capture your rear license plate. You could face a fine of $137.

The state says the project isn’t meant to rack up the number of speeding tickets but to slow you down in construction zones.

The Legislature gave state Transportation Department the OK to put up automated speed-enforcement cameras in construction zones as a pilot program that ends next summer.

The Transportation Department website has more details.

Light snow fell on parts of Snohomish County on Monday but it quickly melted and no new snow is expected in the lowlands for the rest of the week, according to the National Weather Service in Seattle.

There was a report of 2 inches of snow on the ground a few miles north of Monroe, and about an inch in Maltby, said meteorologist Johnny Burg.

“Lynnwood got some snow on the ground, but it didn’t last very long,” he said Monday afternoon. Even parts of Seattle saw a few snowflakes, but they didn’t stick around, Burg said.

Action in the convergence zone north of Seattle dropped approximately a foot of snow on Stevens Pass, while Snoqualmie Pass only got a few inches on Monday, he said.

Tuesday is expected to be mostly cloudy in the morning, then mostly sunny in the afternoon and clear through the evening, Burg said.

“It’ll be fairly cool, with highs in the lower to mid-40s,” with temperatures dipping into the upper 20s or mid-30s Tuesday night, he said.

“Things look to warm up” Wednesday and Thursday, followed by cloudy conditions and a chance of rain on Friday. Saturday and Sunday are expected to be mostly cloudy with a chance of showers both days and highs in the lower 50s, Burg said.

“It’s going to get better. Spring is coming — eventually,” he said.