Annual Closure
SR 20 is one of only three State Routes in Washington that have portions closed in the winter (the others being SR 410 and SR 123). Washington Pass (elevation 5,477 feet / 1,669 metres) and nearby Rainy Pass (elev. 4,875 ft/1,486 m) annually receive up to 15 ft (4.6 m) of snow throughout the winter, and are prone to avalanches leaving over 20 feet (6.1 m) of snow on the road.
As of December 2008, the median first open date was 20 April. The median final closure date was 26 November. During the drought of the winter of 1976–1977, the highway was not closed.
Read more about this topic: Washington State Route 20
Famous quotes containing the word annual:
“I would not have every man nor every part of a man cultivated, any more than I would have every acre of earth cultivated: part will be tillage, but the greater part will be meadow and forest, not only serving an immediate use, but preparing a mould against a distant future, by the annual decay of the vegetation which it supports.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)