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Old 08-18-2010, 10:42 AM
 
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Hi. I'm told that for part of the winter, going from Seattle over the mountains to central WA is un-drivable. Approximately how many weeks or months of the year is it un-drivable?
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Old 08-18-2010, 11:07 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by odie91 View Post
Hi. I'm told that for part of the winter, going from Seattle over the mountains to central WA is un-drivable. Approximately how many weeks or months of the year is it un-drivable?
The main mountain passes are all drivable all year ... the trip is common for all kinds of vehicles 12 months a year ... lots of traffic and travel, both personal and commercial, every day ... storm closures do happen occasionally for usually less than a day while plows and crews deal with heavy snowfalls and / or ice problems ... only a few smaller passes close and those closure dates are somewhat variable anywhere from about Thanksgiving to early April.
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Old 08-23-2010, 03:19 PM
 
Location: Yakima, Wa
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You'd better like driving in snow, and have tire chains.
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Old 08-30-2010, 03:41 PM
 
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So if I need to take a flight somewhere in the wintertime, I assume it's safer to book out of Spokane, versus Seattle, since the weather may be unpredictable?
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Old 08-30-2010, 10:43 PM
 
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Originally Posted by odie91 View Post
So if I need to take a flight somewhere in the wintertime, I assume it's safer to book out of Spokane, versus Seattle, since the weather may be unpredictable?
Starting from where? Your original post asks what are the cross-pass winter conditions from Seattle to Central Washington. One would assume that means you are traveling someplace east of the Cascades with Seattle as your origin -- in which case, obviously, you would book flights out of Seattle.

But I am guessing you are considering living somewhere in Eastern Washington, between the two cities of Seattle and Spokane, and thus asking if it is best to avoid having to cross any of the passes to get to Seattle for a flight out. Is that right? You need to clarify that.
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Old 08-31-2010, 08:41 AM
 
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Yeah, I'll be living in central washington. So would it be safer to book a flight out of Spokane in the winter?


Quote:
Originally Posted by nullgeo View Post
Starting from where? Your original post asks what are the cross-pass winter conditions from Seattle to Central Washington. One would assume that means you are traveling someplace east of the Cascades with Seattle as your origin -- in which case, obviously, you would book flights out of Seattle.

But I am guessing you are considering living somewhere in Eastern Washington, between the two cities of Seattle and Spokane, and thus asking if it is best to avoid having to cross any of the passes to get to Seattle for a flight out. Is that right? You need to clarify that.
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Old 08-31-2010, 09:06 AM
 
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Originally Posted by odie91 View Post
Yeah, I'll be living in central washington. So would it be safer to book a flight out of Spokane in the winter?
OK ... I suppose theoretically it makes sense to use Spokane airport to avoid potential problems in the passes in winter ... I wouldn't criticize. But it isn't much problem usually at all getting across in winter -- and Spokane has limited flights by far compared to Sea-Tac. Also, with weather-forecasting being so accurate these days, you will find you generally have quite a bit of warning when one of the storms is really going to dump in the mountains -- a couple days ... which is enough time to call the airlines and reschedule or switch connections. On the other hand, if you are closer to Spokane anyway, and you can afford the often higher price and extra time to make extra connections, then why not schedule out of there -- sure. Of course, too, many of the connections that get you where you are going nationally with Spokane as an orign are going to fly you 'commuter' to Seattle to get out on the long flight anyway.

Good luck
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Old 08-31-2010, 12:10 PM
 
Location: The greatest state of them all, Oregon.
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Where in Central Washington do you live? Would Tri-Cities (Pasco) be an option?

How about the smaller guys that Horizon uses to get to Seattle, such as WW, Yakima & Wenatchee? Connections would likely suck, but if you're flying non-stop from SEA to your destination, it might not be too bad.
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Old 09-01-2010, 02:34 PM
 
Location: Eastern Washington
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There are small regional airports that are served by large turboprop/small jet service in Tri-Cities, Yakima, several other mid-state towns. Driving to Seattle sometimes makes sense for us for personal flights, taking advantage of other Seattle amenities when we go there as well as Sea-Tac, but business flights for me anyway start in Pasco.

During winter Seattle tends to get fogged in, while the passes are seldom closed (occasionally they are) it does not make much sense to me to drive over the pass to get to Sea-Tac in winter, frequently I fly from Pasco to Salt Lake, (Delta) then on to where-ever, or from Pasco to Denver, (United) then on.
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Old 09-03-2010, 08:16 PM
 
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Do you mean, planes are sometimes canceled/delayed at Sea-Tac due to fog, or do you mean it's hard to drive to Seattle due to the fog?


Quote:
Originally Posted by M3 Mitch View Post

During winter Seattle tends to get fogged in, while the passes are seldom closed (occasionally they are) it does not make much sense to me to drive over the pass to get to Sea-Tac
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