Snowstorm snarls morning commute

SALT LAKE CITY — Travelers near Brigham City should drive carefully as forecasters expect snow to affect Tuesday morning's commute.

The lightly snow-packed freeways left the Monday commute along the Wasatch Front riddled with accidents — 76 in Salt Lake County alone by 10 a.m.

Between 5 and 8 a.m., the Utah Highway Patrol reported 41 accidents in Salt Lake County along the freeways, including eight incidents with minor injuries. An additional 40 accident calls were on the list by 8 a.m. waiting for a trooper to respond, said UHP Sgt. Jeff Plank.

Five accidents were reported by 10 a.m. in Utah County, Plank said.

One man was in critical condition after his vehicle slid off the side of the road and down a ravine at about 9:30 a.m. in Spanish Fork Canyon. Because of the area where the vehicle rolled, it was difficult to extricate the driver, Plank said. An ambulance had to take the victim to a waiting medical helicopter, because the chopper could not land close enough to the accident, he said.

Multiple spin-offs were reported at about 6:30 a.m. on I-15 near 5300 South in both directions. Other slide-offs were reported in Willard and Heber.

Because of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, Plank said, there was less traffic on the road, which may have caused some people to drive faster, increasing the number of accidents.

Alta and Solitude received about 2-4 inches of snow Monday.

While the forecast for Tuesday means people should be prepared for more shoveling of and driving in the white stuff, it also will mean the stagnant, cold air inversion will be blown out of the Salt Lake Valley and above-freezing daytime temperatures will be in place.

Forecasters said people can look forward to temperatures in the mid-40s by Tuesday afternoon.

After another red air advisory Monday, the air Tuesday and Wednesday is expected to be much more healthy, with moderate (yellow) air alert days.

KSL meteorologist Dan Pope expects the next storm system should hit Tuesday morning, followed by another storm on Thursday. The final storm of this cycle will arrive Friday and stick around into early Saturday.

The Salt Lake office of the National Weather Service, meanwhile, predicts a chance of snow every day through Sunday.

Although warmer temperatures are expected, ridge-top wind gusts in the Wasatch Mountains could reach 35 mph Tuesday and produce drifting snow problems.

— Pat Reavy, Lynn Arave and Lana Groves