Overheated planet update, Washington state edition: "The last time all three passes opened so late in the season was 1974"

WSDOT - 2011 - Crews battle late-spring snowfall and avalanche danger in mountain passes

CASCADE MOUNTAINS – The calendar might say spring, but Old Man Winter hasn’t easily released his icy grip on three mountain passes cutting through the Cascades. Record amounts of snow are hampering efforts to clear and reopen the passes.

Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) crews on the North Cascades Highway, and Chinook and Cayuse passes are working hard to open at least two of the passes by Memorial Day weekend. The last time all three passes opened so late in the season was 1974 – also a La Niña year.