Santa brings mixed bag of road conditions for Christmas Eve travelers
What a difference 24 hours can make.
Friday’s ice storm that paralyzed much of western Washington melted into mostly open roads and runways Saturday morning just as some Christmas Eve travelers were hitting the road.
The exception, for eastbound travelers, were mountain passes.
Stevens Pass on U.S. 2 was closed from milepost 50 near Skykomish to milepost 84.75 at Coles Corner, 15 miles west of Leavenworth, the state Department of Transportation said.
Travelers over Interstate 90’s Snoqualmie Pass were required on all vehicles except all wheel drive. Traction tires were required on White Pass on U.S. 12.
Increasing amounts of rain Saturday along with melting snow and ice was leading to standing pools of water on freeways and surface streets.
The National Weather Service has canceled its Winter Storm Warning for the Cascades and Olympics. But the service warned that freezing rain was still in the forecast Saturday for Stevens and Snoqualmie passes. The lingering ice storm could still be a problem in eastern Puget Sound lowlands.
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport anticipated near normal operations Saturday but Friday’s massive flight cancellations could still be affecting travelers on Saturday.
This story was originally published December 24, 2022 at 10:23 AM.
