PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Freezing rain, ice and snowy conditions complicated road and air travel in Washington state, where mountainous portions of two major roadways were closed in each directions Saturday afternoon, officials said.
Interstate 90 was closed along greater than 70 miles (113 kilometers) due to freezing rain and avalanche danger, state transportation officials said. The closure includes Snoqualmie Pass and extends from North Bend to Ellensburg.
“That is going to be an prolonged closure with no ETA to open,” the Washington Department of Transportation said on Twitter.
Nearly 35 miles (56 kilometers) of U.S. Highway 2, including Stevens Pass, are also closed due to freezing rain and icy conditions, in response to the agency.
An ice storm warning was in effect Saturday afternoon for the Cascades in Snohomish and King Counties, in response to the National Weather Service. The agency has forecast ice accumulations of as much as an inch (2.5 centimeters) within the western approaches to the mountain passes in the realm.
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The winter storm that has paralyzed large swaths of the country over the past week has thrust snow, freezing rain, ice and frigid temperatures upon Washington state, resulting in lots of of flights being canceled and delayed and creating dangerous driving conditions during one in all the busiest travel periods of the 12 months.
State troopers responded to greater than 200 vehicle crashes on Friday alone in western Washington, state trooper Kelsey Harding told KING 5, describing roadways that looked like ice skating rinks. Harding said lots of the crashes occurred on the foremost north-south thoroughfare of Interstate 5.
In a separate post on Twitter, Harding said that Whatcom County, home to Bellingham, had been “inundated with collisions, spin outs, and trees over the roadway on account of freezing rain.”
Air travel also remained difficult on Saturday. Nearly 200 flights had been canceled at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport as of 1 p.m., in response to online tracker FlightAware.
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