Snow creates slippery commute, dangerous slopes

The latest in a series of recent winter storms made it a slick and slow-going drive Monday morning for Wasatch Front commuters and perilous for outdoors recreationists on steep slopes in the Utah County and the western Uintah mountains, according to the Utah Avalanche Center.

The center ranked those areas as "High" on a the danger scale, citing new snow pack for both areas.

"New snow has doubled the total snowpack depth in some areas," the center stated on it's Web site about Utah County mountain slopes, which indicated one area received 38 inches of snow in 12 hours. "Backcountry travelers should stay off of and out from underneath slopes approaching 35 degrees or steeper."

The storm, which started Sunday night and continued up to about the start of the commute Monday morning, left snow in Salt Lake County that totaled 10 inches since Friday's storm.

Between 10 p.m. Sunday and 11 a.m. Monday, there were 83 reported accidents or slide-offs on freeways in Salt Lake County, said Utah Highway Patrol trooper Cameron Roden. Thirteen of those accidents involved injuries, he said.

In Utah County, there were 17 accidents or slide-offs with only one of those involving an injury, Roden said. None of the accidents Monday involved serious injuries.

One of those Utah County accidents, however, was a six-car pile-up on I-15 in Lehi that caused traffic to back up several miles into Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain. Several residents reported a near 3-hour commute to Salt Lake City because of the accident.

Many accidents were reported on the side streets. One of the most serious was in Sandy on 1300 East near 9100 South when a driver lost control of her car on the snowy road and smashed into a power pole, knocking out power to about 7,000 residents for several hours, said Sandy Police Sgt. Justin Chapman.

The National Weather Service reported 10 inches of snow along Bountiful's bench since Friday, 10 inches in Millcreek and 6 inches in Sandy.

The Utah Avalanche Center issued an avalanche warning for the Uinta Mountains Monday morning, meaning dangerous slide conditions are occurring or are imminent.

Forecasters say Utah is entering a wet, stormy pattern that is expected to last for a couple of weeks, with storms hitting the area every three to four days.

E-mail: preavy@desnews.com; jhancock@desnews.com