Snow starting to close Mount Rainier roads. More snow coming soon
It’s time to start checking road conditions before heading to Mount Rainier National Park.
For the second time this week, the park has closed roads to its highest tourist attractions because of snow. The park tweeted Saturday night that Stevens Canyon Road and the road from Longmire to Paradise are closed because of snow. Park officials plan to reopen the roads Sunday morning if conditions permit.
The road to Paradise, from Longmire & Stevens Canyon, are closed due to snow. They will reopen in the morning after assessing conditions.tks
— MountRainierNPS (@MountRainierNPS) October 8, 2017
In fall, winter and early spring, the status of the road above Longmire is typically announced each morning on the parks’ Twitter feed. Most of the park’s roads close for the winter in late October or November.
Estimated closure dates are Oct. 23 for Mowich Lake and Paradise Valley roads; Oct. 27 for Sunrise Road; Oct. 30 for Stevens Canyon and White River roads; Nov. 6 for Westside road; and Nov. 20 for state routes 410 and 123.
On Oct. 1, the park closed the road to Sunrise because of snow.
The National Weather Service’s forecast for Paradise predicts a chance of morning snow on Sunday morning before sunny skies from 11 a.m. through Monday with temperatures expected to max out at 48 degrees. A chance of snow is predicted for the remainder of the week. The forecast is similar for Sunrise.
Craig Hill: 253-597-8497, @AdventureGuys
This story was originally published October 7, 2017 at 8:13 PM with the headline "Snow starting to close Mount Rainier roads. More snow coming soon."