Heavy Snow — Cascades of Snohomish and King Counties, Washington

2022-02-26 to 2022-02-28 · Cascades of Snohomish and King Counties, Washington

Event narrative

Snow to began to fall across the Central Cascades during the evening hours of February 26th. Snowfall remained fairly light before becoming much heavier throughout the day on the 27th. At Stevens Pass, 22 inches of new snow was reported between 6am on the 27th and 6am on the 28th. Snow would then continue through the 28th but lighten in intensity. Around 1am on the 28th, Stevens Pass closed due to snow and avalanche conditions.

At Snoqualmie Pass, snow was also heaviest on the 27th, with 19 inches of new snow reported during a 24 hour period from 6am on the 27th to 6am on the 28th. Snow would then taper through the 28th. Similar to Stevens Pass, shortly after midnight Snoqualmie Pass would close due to avalanche conditions both east bound and west bound at the summit.

Wider weather episode

An atmospheric river event brought heavy snow to the Cascades at the end of February, which resulted in the closure of the Passes in the Central Cascades as well as heightened avalanche danger.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1009830. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.