And the other shoe drops - Artist Point closed for the season

It was a record breaking run with an early opening and late closing but the gate was shut this morning.

From the WA State DOT:

Road to Artist Point is closed for winter
Date: Sunday, November 01, 2015
Snowfall ends the longest season on record at popular destination
After a recording-setting year and the longest season ever, State Route 542 between the Mount Baker Ski Area and Artist Point is now closed.

Today, Nov. 1, Washington State Department of Transportation crews closed the winter gate to block the final 2.7 miles of the highway to vehicle traffic until next summer. The first significant snowfall of the year left six inches on the ground, with more expected. This the latest recorded closing of the road; the previous mark was Oct. 26, 2011.

The road to the Artist Point lookout area and trailhead was open 172 days, shattering the mark of 115 days, set in 2014. Because of last winter’s low snowfall total and the early closure of the Mount Baker Ski Area, WSDOT crews began clearing the highway on April 20, and opened it May 14, about seven weeks earlier than usual.

“We close the highway every year when snow starts to accumulate on the road because conditions can become dangerous,” said WSDOT Maintenance Superintendent Tony Hernandez. “We opened the road much earlier than ever before, so people got to enjoy a long season at Artist Point this year.”

The last 2.7 miles of SR 542 are narrow with steep grades and sharp corners, reaching an altitude of 5,000 feet. Typically the highway receives 30 to 50 feet of snow each winter. It usually takes six to eight weeks to reopen the last section of the highway once clearing work begins in the spring.

The earliest was Sept. 27, 2007. In 1999 the highway never opened after a world-record snowfall total.

1999 was one year after the largest recorded El Niño on record. I am hoping that 2017 will bring the same. The economy of this mountain hamlet is very tourist driven. The extended opening of Artist Point this summer was a great benefit to business in the area. An exceptional snow year will be a real boon as the last couple of years have been downright crappy...

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About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by DaveH published on November 1, 2015 3:48 PM.

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