Washington's three major mountain highways all closed Friday because of foul weather and avalanche danger, the first time Snoqualmie, Stevens and White passes have been closed simultaneously in 11 years.
Officials began to worry that their two-year snow-and-ice removal budgets might run over because of the unusually nasty weather in the passes.
"All across the Cascades, the avalanche danger is really high," said Mike Westbay, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.
At Snoqualmie, this season's snowfall exceeded 390 inches Thursday. It wasn't a record, but it was approaching the highest recent levels -- 435 inches that fell during the 1971-72 season and 427 inches in 1973-74. Seasonal snowfall totaled 440 inches at Stevens Pass as of Friday and 509 inches at White Pass; no comparable historic figures were available.
Bart Lutton, terminal manager for Peninsula Truck Lines, said the shutdowns were adding about 4,400 more miles daily to his company's routes, at a cost of several thousand dollars. Some drivers were approaching their mandatory driving-hours limits.
"In my 15 years in Washington this is the worst I've ever seen," Lutton said.
Them boys are gettin paid!!
Notice the time span between these events and the current one. It's about double the eleven-year sunspot cycle.
I have observed this same fluctuation in other phenomena (e.g., Midwestern drought, major league baseball offense,etc.) -- which seem to come and go on something around a 25-year cycle.
If I am not mistaken, it was also IBD that reported the same 25-year cycle occurring in the media's reporting of "A new Ice Age" and "Global Warming" -- ever since the Victorian Era.
Once, the cycle was simply the source of amusing media hysteria. It's never been based on real science. But, now, it's become an integral component of liberal politics.
Senator McCain notwithstanding...