3-hour blizzard blitzes Utah, prompting warnings and closures

SALT LAKE CITY — Tuesday's blizzard rolled in from the north with a flurry and tapered off quickly — lasting just about three hours.

The Utah Highway Patrol reported more than 211 accidents and slide-offs occurring from Box Elder County to Utah County, leaving seven people with injuries. While there were a large number of incidents, it could have been worse, officials say.

"We did have a number of crashes and slide-offs, but I think the number could have been a lot higher," said trooper Todd Johnson, spokesman for the Department of Safety.

Johnson said he believes the public heeded the department's warnings to leave work early and stay off the roads.

"I think it's a well-orchestrated effort," he said. "I think people took it to heart."

The Salt Lake office of the National Weather Service reported that the storm hit Ogden around 4 p.m., Salt Lake City around 5 and Provo around 6.

"It snowed heavily, it snowed intensely," said Brian McInerney, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service.

Parleys Summit accumulated 10 inches of snow during the storm, Brigham City received eight inches and the east side of Salt lake got about three inches of snow.

The front passed through "maybe a little bit quicker than we expected," McInerney said.

Though less severe than many anticipated, Tuesday's storm was part of a larger cold front that has left two to three feet of snow in the mountains since Saturday morning. On Tuesday alone, Brighton Ski Resort received 16 inches of new snow.

At the Salt Lake City International Airport, 17 inbound and eight outbound flights were canceled between 4:30 p.m. and midnight. That's out of 288 flights total.

In anticipation of the blizzard, schools announced closures and government agencies issued advisories on how Utahns can stay safe.

Meteorologists say the 3 to 6 inches of snow in the valleys shouldn't be the problem — it's the combination of snow, extreme cold and possibly damaging winds.

Ogden Peak experienced winds gusting to 86 miles per hour, and Deer Valley experienced gusts of 64 miles an hour.

As of 9:40 p.m., 530 homes were without power in the Salt Lake Valley, and 29 were without power in southern Utah, according to Rocky Mountain Power.