Weird transmission issue after driving in snow

[jseabolt]

2003 Subaru Baja, 5 speed.

So we get our first major (6") snowstorm in three years. So I am driving at
around 30 to 40 mph in 3rd gear for about 5 miles or so. Not really going
above 3000 rpms. Not anymore than I would be going at 70 mph in 5th gear.

So I come to a red light and try to gear down into 2nd. The shifter doesn't
want to go into 2nd gear!! WTF!! Nor does it act like it want to go into 4th
either. But will go in the odd gears (1,3 and 5).

So I drop off my passenger at a grocery store. While idling, I try put the car
in 2nd gear and let out on the clutch and it just revs up. It feels like something is putting the shifter
in a bind.

So after a few minutes of idling, I try to put the car into reverse. Now it
seems to be OK and will go into 2nd and 4th without any binding.

What would cause this? I have driven this car in snow several times and never
seen this happen. Is it even snow related? I thought I had burned my
transmission up somehow by driving for so many miles in 3rd gear.

The only thing I can think of is snow had somehow got thrown up into the
engine compartment on top of the transmission and packed around the linkage
preventing the shifter from going into the even gears. Is this even possible?

This was the real slushy snow by the way at 32 to 33F.

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2008 Ford Mustang GT
2007 Buick (wife's car)
2003 Subaru Baja
1980 FIAT 2000 "turbo" Spider
1968 Ford Fairlane 500 (Not a Ford Galaxie!!)
1987 Yugo GV 1500cc also turbocharged
1980 131/Brava **for sale**?
1981 Trabant 601 (mein trabbi...)

[jseabolt]

I've put about 200 miles on this car after this incident. Yesterday I was doing a lot of shifting through the mountains and experienced no shifting issues whatsoever. Everytime seems normal now. It seems to be related to driving in slushy snow. I just can't see how snow could be thrown up until the engine compartment and accumulate and pack around on the shifter linkage. I've never had this happen before. I am running the front splash shield.
Granted we don't get a lot of snow down here in the low lands of East Tennessee but this isn't the first time I've had to drive in snow like this in my Subaru.
I just can't remember if I had ever driven the car 20 miles at one time on the main highway through slush before.
Most of the time It's either been going to work just 8 miles or coming home from work driving through dry packed snow.