Winter Car PrepWhat a Snowstorm Night on I-90 Really Looks Like (Washington State DOT)
First comes clearing the collisions and spinouts, then comes clearing the snow. A night on Snoqualmie Pass, from the people who clear it.
Washington State DOT runs the highways through some of the snowiest mountain passes in America — and their verified TikTok (171,400 followers) shows what that job really looks like. This video walks through one spring storm night on I-90 at Snoqualmie Pass, near Easton: crews working around the clock, state patrol staffing chain-up checkpoints, an on-call tow truck for spinouts. And the part that should make every winter driver think: semi-trucks that ran out of driving hours, refused to chain up, got stuck — and parked on the highway itself, blocking the snowplows. Spring storms are the tricky ones: slushy, slick, with freeze-thaw cycles that re-ice the road again and again.
Watch: This is how we do it. First comes clearing the collisions and spinouts, then comes clearing the snow.
@washingtonstatedot This is how we do it. First comes clearing the collisions and spinouts, then comes clearing the snow.
What to take from it
- Follow traction requirements. When the signs say chains, they mean it. The trucks that skipped chaining are the ones that blocked the pass.
- Slow down and drive for conditions. Spring storms are slushy and slick with repeated freeze-thaw — the road can ice up again in minutes.
- Never stop on the highway. A stuck truck parked in a live lane blocks the plows and the tow trucks — and puts everyone behind it in danger.
- It takes all of us. That is the DOT's own message: crews can clear the road, but only if every driver does their part.
Follow Washington State DOT (@washingtonstatedot) on TikTok for more.