Storm leaves behind snow, black ice

Heavy snow that fell over Christmas gave way to chilly temperatures and clearing skies Friday evening.

The cold and ice are expected to remain through the weekend, but the worst of the heavy snow has moved on, according to the National Weather Service offices in Salt Lake City.

The Christmas blizzard caused snowpacked roads and problems all along the Wasatch Front. Fortunately, the Friday morning commute was lighter than normal thanks to the holiday weekend.

Still, Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Nigbur said there were numerous accidents. From 7 p.m. Thursday to 9:45 a.m. Friday, there were 66 crashes involving damage on Salt Lake County's freeways, five accidents involving injuries and multiple slide-offs. Fender benders and slide-offs continued to occur throughout the evening Friday when the departing front caused plummeting temperatures, which froze the remaining slush, highway dispatchers said.

The most serious accident Friday was a semitrailer truck that was blown over by strong winds on I-80 near Saltair about 5:30 p.m. Thursday. The driver was transported to a hospital in critical condition. A portion of I-80 was closed Thursday night to high-profile vehicles due to the wind.

In Utah County, there were 22 crashes involving damage on the freeway from Thursday night through Friday morning, no injury accidents, and "multiple, multiple slide-offs," Nigbur said.

Because Friday was not a big travel day and many residents didn't have to work, Nigbur said the number of crashes Friday morning was "really low compared to other storms."

The storm forced several road closures Friday along the Wasatch Front.

Little Cottonwood Canyon was closed Friday morning but had reopened by Friday night. Restrictions allowing only vehicles with chains or four-wheel drive remained in effect for Sardine Canyon, and I-84 near the Utah/Idaho border was also closed.

At the Salt Lake City International Airport, spokeswoman Barbara Gann said the airport Friday was "unraveling from last night."

Weather temporarily closed all but one runway Thursday and forced 17 flight diversions in addition to some delays and cancellations.

By Friday morning, Gann said all the runways were open, the airport was just "slow from recovering from last night."