photos by Washington State Department of Transportation, via Flickr

All the rain and snow in California this past weekend, led me to a search for snow plows on Flickr and these fine photos of the annual scouting trip by Washington State transportation officials to the North Cascades Highway. The road is closed in winter due to snow and avalanches, but officials check in to see what kind of conditions they’ll be dealing with later in the spring. As officials explain on the above link, efforts to clear the highway in earnest likely won’t begin until early to mid April.

By Sierra standards, that’s pretty good. With the amount of snowfall this past weekend in the Sierra (Mammoth Mountain is reporting three to five feet in the past 24 hours), it’s hard to imagine some of the big passes — Tioga and Sonora — opening any time soon. And more snow is expected this  week.

To submit a photo or photos of something transportation-related, post them to Metro’s Flickr group or email them to sourcemetro@gmail.com. The photos we’ve featured can be seen in these galleries on Flickr. Or click on the ‘art of transit’ in the categories box at right.