Avalanches, Mudslides Create Traffic Messes

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By By KOMO Staff & News Services

Summary

Heavy snow and avalanches closed I-90 through Snoqualmie Pass for several hours Sunday night before reopening Monday morning; mudslides close other roads.

Story Published: Jan 29, 2006 at 9:03 PM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 31, 2006 at 2:11 AM PDT

Avalanches, Mudslides Create Traffic Messes
SNOQUALMIE PASS - Interstate 90 across Snoqualmie Pass was closed for several hours Sunday and Monday because of avalanches, mudslides snarled rail traffic between Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, British Columbia, and flood warnings were issued for much of Western Washington early Monday after a weekend of heavy rain soaked the state.

Landslides also closed two lesser state highways and hampered traffic on others in the latest round of transportation snarls in an unusually wet winter even for a region well-known for drippy weather. No injuries were reported.

The National Weather Service issued flood warnings Monday for the Chehalis, Skookumchuck, Satsop, Skokomish and Deschutes rivers, but severe flooding was not expected.

A heavy snow warning was issued for the Cascade Range above 2,500 feet elevation, including all highway passes, through Monday night. Northeast Washington remained under a winter storm warning, while high wind warnings were posted for much of the eastern half of the state.

On Sunday, Olympia broke its record for rainfall in a single calendar day, with 2.23 inches, bettering the old mark of 1.76 inches set in 2004.

The rain continued overnight, with Olympia recording 2.8 inches in the 24 hours that ended at 5 a.m. Monday. Nearby Shelton had 3.64 inches, Hoquiam on the Pacific coast had 3.23 inches, Bremerton had 3.45 inches and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport measured 1.66 inches.

Earlier this month, Olympia set a record with 35 consecutive days of measurable rainfall, two days more than the old mark set in 1953, and Seattle came within six days of its rainy-day record of 27, also set in 1953.

I-90, the state's main east-west artery, was closed Sunday evening because of two snowslides, at Milepost 51, a few miles west of 3,022-foot Snoqualmie Pass, and the other east of the pass at Milepost 58.

A 72-mile stretch of the freeway remained closed until 10 a.m. Monday between North Bend on the west side and Ellensburg on the east. Crews were able to clear enough snow to reopen the pass.

U.S. 2 across Stevens Pass to the north remained open but was subject to intermittent closures for avalanche control. Less heavily traveled U.S. 12 across White Pass to the south also was open.

Four mudslides overnight north of Seattle blocked trains on one of two sets of tracks, halting Amtrak passenger service and Sounder commuter trains between Seattle and Everett, Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad spokesman Gus Melonas said.

Freight trains were operating on the unaffected line, but passenger and commuter rail service cannot resume before Wednesday morning trains under a 48-hour minimum slide closure restriction, Sound Transit and Amtrak officials said.

For Amtrak, the closure halted Seattle-Bellingham and Seattle-Vancouver, British Columbia trains. Empire Builder trains that normally run between Seattle and Chicago were operating normally east of Everett.

Four other slides, including one that covered both sets of tracks for a time, occurred overnight in the Nisqually and Steilacoom areas south of Tacoma, Melonas said.

Commuter train service between Seattle and Tacoma remained in operation. Buses were used to carry commuter and Amtrak passengers around the slide areas.

Rail traffic has been disrupted repeatedly this month by mudslides along the steep slopes lining Puget Sound north and south of Seattle.

Elsewhere, overflowing retention ponds were to blame for some urban flooding in Bothell.

Water was cascading down the hillside above 228th Street in the city's Canyon Park neighborhood and flowing right across the busy road. City crews were working to pump the water into the nearby North Creek.

Also, a mudslide early Monday closed Washington 302 east of Washington 3 near the north end of Case Inlet in Mason County, and a landslide closed Washington 166 in Port Orchard.

Other slides resulted in lane closures on Interstate 5 north of the Nisqually River and Washington 507 near Bucoda in south Thurston county.