Cliff Mass: WSDOT could prevent snow-related crashes at the Snoqualmie Pass
Mar 15, 2025, 6:27 PM
Snow made for a dangerous drive on the Snoqualmie Pass on Saturday morning. (Photo: Washington State Patrol)
(Photo: Washington State Patrol)
Meteorologist and University of Washington atmospheric sciences professor Cliff Mass says we don’t have to see so many snow-related crashes at the Snoqualmie Pass. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) just needs to address snow that it knows is coming.
Mass argues that WSDOT could do a better job clearing the roads of snow. But he doesn’t think they’re properly looking at the weather forecasts.
“The snow was foreseeable. Weather information is so good now that we can warn folks in real time of the approaching snow band so that they can slow down!” Mass wrote on his blog.
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WSDOT was ‘not interested’ in snow forecast assistance
Cliff Mass said that he offered to build a system for WSDOT that could provide real-time updates to staff and even drivers so that they could better prepare for the snow conditions on the road.
“The goal was to stop the snow closures and keep folks safe. Unfortunately, they were not interested,” he said.
Drivers could have used the warning on Saturday morning as slick and treacherous conditions on Snoqualmie Pass made driving dangerous. The snow caused a semi to jackknife and led to several other vehicle spinouts, resulting in lanes of I-90 briefly blocked.
