Wintry blast of snow closes out 2002

An afternoon storm system left much of the northern Wasatch Front in a light blanket of snow just ahead of the New Year.

Snow accumulations were reported from northern Utah to as far south as Nephi after a storm moved through the state Tuesday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

"The northern Wasatch got the brunt of this storm. They got dumped on pretty well," National Weather Service spokesman Dan Brown said.

Ski resorts at Alta, Snowbasin and Snowbird reported between 11.5 inches and 13 inches of snowfall from the storm, Brown said. Spring Mountain near Liberty in Weber County received 18 inches from the storm, the most reported to the National Weather Service, Brown said.

East Layton and South Ogden reported 6 inches, with the North Salt Lake bench reporting 5 inches, Brown said. The Avenues had 3 inches of snow, and 1 inch fell at Salt Lake City International Airport, Brown said.

"The south part of the valley kind of got left out of this. South of downtown got just a skiff," Brown said.

Cities in Utah County reported between 1 and 2.5 inches of snow, with Nephi getting 1 inch and Price reporting 4 inches, National Weather Service lead forecaster James Nelson said.

The inclement weather led to several slide-offs and accidents in northern Utah and the Wasatch Front. By 9 p.m. Tuesday Utah Highway Patrol troopers had responded to 40 crashes in Salt Lake County alone, Lt. Doug McCleve said. The majority of those were weather-related, but only three resulted in injuries, McCleve said.

UHP troopers in Salt Lake County also arrested 19 people for drunken driving overnight as part of a holiday DUI enforcement blitz. Prior to those 19 arrests, police made 130 DUI arrests in Salt Lake County since a combined enforcement effort was kicked off Friday. The blitz concluded New Year's morning.

Tuesday's high in Salt Lake City reached 41 degrees, with a low of 32 degrees. Wednesday morning's low was 31 degrees, with highs expected to reach the upper 30s, Nelson said. The cloud cover that enveloped much of the Salt Lake valley Wednesday morning was expected to burn off by the afternoon, with partly cloudy skies expected Thursday, Nelson said.

Weaker storm systems are expected to bring a mix of rain and snow to the valleys on Friday and Sunday, with minimal amounts of snow in the mountains, Nelson said.

"Then we're in the clear for a few days after that," Nelson said.

Prior to Tuesday's storm, the state's snowpack was at about 70 percent of the normal amount, Nelson said.

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E-mail: djensen@desnews.com