Washington State Department Of Transportation

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In this Monday, Jan. 9, 2017 photo, John Stimberis, an avalanche forecasting and control supervisor for the Washington State Department of Transportation at Snoqualmie Pass, does a compression test to get a feel for the strength of the snow and any unstable layers. Stimberis generally starts his day with closely monitoring the weather forecast and measuring different conditions at the WSDOT snow study area at Snoqualmie Pass. (Bettina Hansen/The Seattle Times via AP)