Avalanche control

Our Avalanche Forecasting and Control team is a dedicated crew of experienced professionals who monitor the weather and snow to determine when avalanches may occur. The crew is split into two regional teams with full-time employees and seasonal employees. The Avalanche Control Supervisor for each team leads the crew throughout the year. Check out a video highlighting their avalanche control efforts.

When conditions indicate an avalanche is imminent, teams employ various methods and tools to bring down unstable snow in a controlled manner. The team works throughout the fall, winter, and spring along Washington's mountain highways.

Our Avalanche Paths are mapped out and tracked in a web mapping application that is publicly accessible. Check out the Avalanche Atlas map page.

Forecasting avalanches

Avalanche forecasting determines the potential risk along a particular mountain slope. Avalanche forecasts are based on past, current and forecasted conditions. Some important factor used to determine the avalanche hazard include:

• New snow or rain
• Temperature
• Wind speed and direction
• Existing snow conditions

This information is combined with a mountain weather forecast to predict the chance an avalanche will occur on a particular mountain slope.

Performing avalanche control

When an avalanche hazard develops, we use artillery or explosives to trigger the avalanche. These are various methods of delivery, depending on the topography and accessibility to the avalanche path. Explosives are placed by hand, cable-pulley bomb trams, or with surplus military weapons.

In addition to active avalanche control, we use passive control methods to control snow slides. These include elevated roadways so avalanches pass under them and catchment basins to stop the avalanche before snow reaches the highway. we also use diversion dams and snow berms to keep the snow off the highway.

Winter passes

Avalanche control is a winter-long activity on two primary travel corridors; I-90 Snoqualmie Pass (3,022 feet) and US 2 Stevens Pass (4,061 feet). These mountain passes average more than 450 inches of snowfall each winter. Typical traffic volume over Snoqualmie Pass is about 28,000 vehicles per day and about 5,600 of those vehicles are freight. The typical traffic volume over Stevens Pass is about 4,500 vehicles and about 450 of those vehicles are freight.

I-90 Snoqualmie Pass

The avalanche character of each pass is unique and so are the control tools and techniques. The most persistent avalanche zone through Snoqualmie Pass is on the west side of the pass area. When active control is required there, crews close the roadway to ensure safety. A "sweeper" vehicle drives through to ensure that no vehicles are still inside the zone. Once the area is clear, cable trams and or artillery are used to deliver the explosives to the top of the avalanche paths where they're detonated, allowing our technicians to remain at a safe distance.

View Avalanche Areas over I-90 Snoqualmie Pass

The crew on Snoqualmie Pass has used a 105mm Recoilless Rifle, and an M60 Tank for many years. A 105mm howitzer is now used when artillery is need to trigger avalanches. The desired result is the same; detonated explosives to release the avalanche. Then maintenance crew members remove any snow that may reach the roadway, and then reopen the road to traffic. Traffic delays are typically 30 minutes to two hours. However, during severe conditions, the volume of snow released and the time to clear it from the roadway can extend to several hours. Our crews strive to perform avalanche control work at night or during periods of lower traffic volume, but they can't control the weather so winter travelers should always be prepared for possible delays

US 2 Stevens Pass

The "Old Faithful" avalanche zone just west of the Stevens Pass summit requires the most frequent control. During an avalanche control road closure, traffic on US 2 is typically held at the summit (MP 64) and at Scenic (MP 56), eight miles to the west. Among other methods, the Stevens Pass crew use trams and a 105 mm Howitzer to fire shells into the top of twelve avalanche paths. The road is reopened after the avalanche control work and clearing snow from the roadway is completed. When possible, most of the control is done between midnight and 6 a.m.

View Avalanche areas over US 2 Stevens Pass

Seasonal pass closures

We seasonally closes some passes each winter because avalanche control work in those areas is too hazardous.

• SR 410 Chinook Pass (5,430 feet) Enumclaw to Yakima, skirting Mount Rainier.
• SR 123 Cayuse Pass (4,675 feet) Chinook Pass to White Pass along the east slope of the Cascades.
• SR 20 North Cascades Highway - Rainy Pass (4,855 feet) and Washington Pass (5,477 feet) the Skagit Valley to the Okanogan Valley. SR 20 east of Washington Pass holds the distinction of being among the top areas in the United State for having the most avalanche paths per mile of highway.

Recreational considerations

Our avalanche control activity affects more than travelers. Backcountry recreation has become very popular. From the US 2/Stevens Pass Ski Area, skiers and snowboarders can access backcountry areas and potentially venture into the highway avalanche zones. we posts warning signs at the top of the ski area and in key locations, but are sometimes ignored. Besides risking injury, skiers and snowboarders sometimes trigger avalanches. They also create a hazard for themselves and others by hitchhiking back to the summit. When vehicles stop to give hitchhikers a ride, it creates a traffic hazard. The Washington State Patrol petitioned us to post the avalanche zones from milepost 58 to 66 to prohibit hitchhiking and WSP troopers vigorously enforce this ban. Skiers and snowboarders face similar personal hazards at two Snoqualmie Pass ski areas when they ignore signs and venture outside ski area boundaries.

New technology

The Avalanche Teams test new technologies that could be incorporated into our control program. As an example, we are evaluating whether remote-controlled drone aircraft can provide information about snow conditions in the avalanche paths. Crews are also evaluating Remote Avalanche Control Systems (RACS) to eventually replace the aging surplus military artillery.