SNOQUALMIE PASS, Wash. - On top of last weekend's killer snow, comes equally dangerous heavy rain.
Temperatures are in the mid-30s, and avalanches, both natural and deliberately triggered, meant closures of I-90 in both directions for 10 hours Tuesday.
Leslie Munro and his wife Gwen were stuck. They were heading to Montana. One of the first vehicles to line up, they waited for five hours.
“Very tiresome, I'm one of these people who gets antsy real fast and this has been a trial for me,” said Munro.
Why were conditions so bad? Wet, rain soaked snow is heavy, which means it easily slides off the lighter snow beneath it. And when it goes, it can pull two feet or more of that lighter snow along with it, making for big slides.
It was so bad, avalanche control fired 18 rounds from a tank that sits high above one off the ski areas. The target was dangerous slide zones across I-90.
Because of the pass closure, the show won't go on at the paramount theater. The opening night performance of beauty and the beast was cancelled. Tuesday was a day for the show to move and they got stuck on the wrong side of the mountain.
