Snow likely to continue into Wednesday

It's time to pack in the flip flops and lug out the snow boots, as winter has stormed in with some accident-causing snowfall.

Local meteorologists say northern Utahns, who spent Tuesday driving and walking along slushy roads amid swirling flakes, can expect snow showers to continue Wednesday with temperatures staying in the low 40s.

Utah Highway Patrol troopers went back and forth between accidents Tuesday involving drivers sliding off roads and occasionally into other vehicles.

"We've been getting a good coating of snow on the ground," said UHP trooper Cameron Roden. "There's been some drivers going too fast, but on the whole everyone's been driving pretty well."

Some of those drivers caused accidents throughout Salt Lake and Tooele counties, including an incident in which a driver lost control on I-80 Tuesday evening and crashed into a concrete barrier. Highway Patrol troopers also responded to an accident in Summit County in the evening after a driver hit icy roads and her vehicle slid 100 feet down a hillside.

UHP Cpl. Landon Middaugh said the driver was probably going the speed limit at 65 mph, but that drivers need to slow down in bad weather conditions.

"Our roads are icing over," Middaugh said. "People need to slow down and get where they're going safely."

The first snowstorm of the season led to about 26 crashes and slide-offs with property damage and 3 incidents with minor injuries in Salt Lake County alone, according to UHP records. And Utah County experienced four accidents with property damage but just one accident with minor injuries.

The Salt Lake office of the National Weather Service reported that Alta and Snowbird ski resorts received the most snowfall with 10 and 9.5 inches respectively from Tuesday's showers. They said some of the heaviest snowfall was in Tooele Valley.

"Tomorrow (Wednesday) should be much drier," said meteorologist Mike Seaman. "This year's showers came a little early, but we should be done for at least a week."

Snowfall reached about 5 inches in the North Salt Lake bench area but Salt Lake County saw only a couple inches, with the high being West Jordan with 4 inches total.

On Tuesday morning, traffic in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons was limited to chains and four-wheel drive vehicles because of heavy snow.

Traffic accidents across the Salt Lake area were relatively light compared with what they have been during previous winter storms.