Winter whacks morning commute

Winter apparently isn't quite ready to go away quietly.

A winter storm created a slow and slick commute Monday morning for much of northern Utah. Numerous slide-offs and accidents were reported in Salt Lake, Davis, Utah and Tooele counties.

From the time the storm started Sunday night through 10 a.m. Monday, the Utah Highway Patrol reported 99 crashes in Salt Lake County, 24 accidents involving injuries and 24 slide-offs. Some of those injuries were "significant" but none were life-threatening, said UHP trooper Cameron Roden.

In Utah County, 58 crashes were reported during that time along with four accidents resulting in injuries and 11 slide-offs.

"I think (the intensity of the storm) was a surprise to everyone. It hit us at a bad time overnight. We felt the residual this morning," Roden said.

I-80 was closed near Rock Springs, Wyo., Monday morning. Four-wheel drive or chains were required this morning for Parleys, Big and Little Cottonwood canyons.

A heavy snow warning issued by the National Weather Service was allowed to expire at 10 a.m. for the Wasatch Mountains and mountain valleys including Park City, Heber and Huntsville. Snow in the mountains was expected to continue until 2 p.m., according to the NWS.

Since Saturday, the benches of Bountiful, South Ogden, Millcreek and Heber have received 6 inches of snow or more, according to the NWS. Alpine received 8 inches of new snow.

In the mountains, Brighton Ski Resort received 16 new inches of snow, Park City 15 and Alta 14 inches, the NWS reported.

The weather also caused a few power outages Sunday night affecting a couple of thousand customers. As of 8 a.m., all but 300 customers in Magna and 400 customers in Tooele had their power restored, according to Rocky Mountain Power.