Weather update: Rain through Tuesday, then maybe some sun. Beware of mountain passes and avalanches

The snow is melting and rain is here, pretty much staying in the Seattle area through Monday night, said the National Weather Service.

Tuesday there is a 40% to 50% chance of showers, but it will be mostly cloudy, with highs near 45. And Wednesday it’s a partly sunny forecast.

The Weather Service said it had “low confidence” that rain on Monday could cause areas of urban flooding when combined with the melting snowpack.

Mountain snow on Monday and Tuesday night will create difficult travel conditions across the passes at times, and freezing rain forecast for Monday afternoon at the entrances to the passes adds to the hazards.

And the Weather Service has a strong warning for the avid outdoors types: There will be very dangerous avalanche conditions in the mountains on Monday as the snowpack is primed for human-triggered avalanches.

Monday morning at 9 a.m., the state’s Department of Transportation said Stevens Pass on Highway 2 was temporarily closed for avalanche control. It tweeted, “Highly encourage you to delay your trips or consider other routes/places to enjoy the snow safely.”

On Monday morning it was snowing across Snoqualmie Pass, with compact snow and ice on the roadways. Chains were required on all vehicles except all-wheel drive, said WSDOT. The same advisory was for Blewett Pass on Highway 97.

Seattle Public Utilities said that because of the snow there will be no residential garbage, recycling or food/yard waste pickup on Monday.

Weather permitting, garbage, recycling, and food/yard waste service will resume Tuesday on a revised schedule — with customers scheduled for pickup Monday collected Tuesday. All remaining residential services will be delayed one day this week. More information can be found on its website.

Recology King County, which provides garbage, recycling and compost collection in Seattle, Shoreline, Des Moines, Issaquah, Maple Valley, SeaTac, Burien, Bothell, Mercer Island and Carnation said service has been suspended Monday and will resume “as soon as it is safe to do so.”