Snowfall creates messy commute on Wasatch Front

Tuesday afternoon commuters faced a miserable drive home, with snow, slick roads and bumper-to-bumper traffic.

"We've been busy with crashes all afternoon," said Cameron Roden, Utah Highway Patrol spokesman. "But nothing major out there right now except for the Spanish Fork Canyon accident."

A semitrailer jackknifed its trailer and crashed on the slushy canyon road causing a complete closure for about an hour, Roden said. There were no injuries but traffic backed up for miles on the slick canyon pass until crews could get it cleared.

Salt Lake County had 49 slide-offs and accidents and Utah County police responded to about 25, Roden said. "But of the few injuries, none were serious."

The storm left several inches of the white stuff in valley locations and the National Weather Service said temperatures won't reach above freezing until Wednesday afternoon.

The advisory to use snow tires or chains north across the Idaho border on I-84 stayed in effect.

Avalanche danger remains a "considerable" risk from Ogden to Provo.

Wednesday morning has just a 30 percent chance of snow and by afternoon, partly sunny conditions and 36 degree temperatures should prevail.

Then, Thursday night and Friday morning have the next chances for more snow.

Although December 2008 won't add much to the record books, it did feature snowfall that was 170 percent of normal.

Salt Lake City International Airport received 20.8 inches of snow last month compared to the normal amount of 12.2 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

Larry Dunn, meteorologist with the Salt Lake office of the National Weather Service, said the snowfall continued a trend from December 2007, which was the fourth wettest December on record, with 29.8 inches, or 3.35 total inches of moisture.

"We had more snow last winter," he said.

Moisturewise, the airport received just 1.23 inches and that's only 106 percent of normal, so the snow was very dry.

The wettest December on record was 1983 with 4.37 inches of moisture, while 1976 was driest at only 0.08 inches.

Last month did have the snowiest Christmas Day on record in Salt Lake with 7.2 inches, shattering the old record of 5.9 inches, set in 1943.

Statewide, it was the Kane County towns of Alton and Orderville that were really dumped on last month. Alton had 42.5 inches of snow (345 percent of normal), while Orderville had 25 inches, or 354 percent of normal.

Regarding the long-term outlook for moisture, Dunn said after the current storm and another one Friday, it is looking dry all next week.

"It will be very difficult to avoid an inversion with all this snow on the ground," he said.

E-mail: lynn@desnews.com