Bellingham, WA – An intense winter storm on Wednesday downed trees along the Mt. Baker Highway, closing both the road and the ski area east of Bellingham.

The Washington Department of Transportation made the decision to close the road on Wednesday in the interest of public safety. With the only access to and from Mt. Baker ski area closed, resort officials made the decision to close the ski area as well.

The trees, described as being between six and 22 inches in diameter, were unable to withstand the weight of a foot to a foot and a half of new snow and fell across the highway. Eight trees fell before the DOT closed the road, and four more thereafter.

Work by DOT crews overnight allowed the road to reopen this morning. While the ski area will open as scheduled at 9 a.m. today the storm continues unabated, and Mt. Baker will operate only its chairs 3, 4, 5 and 7. Pan Dome remains on wind hold as of press time. The resort has issued a warning regarding deep tree wells on the mountain and the avalanche danger in the area remains high.