in a cloud where the snow gets higher than the poles sticking out of the road. Logan Pass (elevation 6,646 ft (2,026 m)) is located along the Continental Divide in Glacier National Park, in the U.S. state of Montana. It is the highest point on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Just east of the pass, an area known as Big Drift often records over 100 feet (30 m) of snowfall, much of which has been pushed over the continental divide by the prevailing westerly winds during the winter. The road is one of the most difficult roads in North America to snowplow in the spring. Up to 80 feet (24 m) of snow can lie on top of Logan Pass, and more just east of the pass where the deepest snowfield has long been referred to as Big Drift. The road takes about ten weeks to plow, even with equipment that can move 4000 tons of snow in an hour. The snowplow crew can clear as little as 500 feet (150 m) of the road per day. On the east side of the continental divide, there are few guardrails due to heavy snows and the resultant late winter avalanches that have repeatedly destroyed every protective barrier ever constructed.The pass is closed during the winter due to avalanche hazards and the virtual impossibility of keeping the Going-to-the-Sun Road open, yet is generally open from the end of May until mid October. A record wind gust was recorded at Logan Pass on April 9, 2014, of 139 miles per hour. The pass was closed at that time. The previous record gust recorded at Logan Pass was 133 mph, on Dec. 13, 2006. The average wind speed during the hour the record gust was recorded was 66 mph.[1]
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 05:09:15 +0000
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