Crash on snowy road kills woman

A big snowstorm blanketed much of the northern part of Utah Saturday and was partially to blame for one fatal crash in Spanish Fork Canyon.

According to the Utah Highway Patrol, a man and two female passengers were traveling down the canyon in a pickup truck just after 8:30 a.m. when the driver lost control of the vehicle and rolled off the right side of the road.

Passenger Iris Howe, 58, of Price, was pronounced dead at the scene. She was wearing her seat belt. The male driver and a female passenger in the back seat were transported to a local hospital with minor injuries.

The UHP reports the roads were snowpacked and slippery at the time of the crash.

Though the areas that saw the most snow were elevations above 8,000 feet, snowfall of up to 2 inches in the valleys caused numerous slideoffs and accidents between noon and 1 p.m. in the Willard and Perry region, in particular, along I-15, though no serious injuries were reported.

Benches in Davis and Weber counties saw snow between 1.5 and 4 inches, while parts of West Jordan saw 7 inches of snow.

Snowbird ski resort saw 9 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service.

That much snow put four-wheel drive or chains restrictions in effect for several canyons Saturday afternoon, including Big Cottonwood Canyon and Little Cottonwood.

In Utah County, there were seven accidents and three slide-offs.

In Salt Lake County, by 3:30 p.m. the Utah Highway Patrol reported 30 accidents and five slide-offs on the freeways with a total of six minor injuries.

The National Weather Service is predicting clear and cold weather through Tuesday, with chances for snow Wednesday through the weekend.

e-mail: preavy@desnews.com; jdougherty@desnews.com