Storm aftermath: Snow clogs traffic, closes schools -- and more to come

A major snowstorm overnight translated to a stop-and-go commute for many Utah motorists Thursday as left many schools either closed or starting late. And, forecasters warned, winter woes are expected to continue today.

The storm warning remains effective until 11 a.m. from Interstate 80 south to Cedar City. Half a foot or more of snow is expected during the storm.

Overnight snow totals ranged as high as 21 inches in the Tooele Valley and a foot at spots in the Salt Lake Valley. Mountain snow totals were in the foot to foot and a half range at various ski resorts. The Utah Highway Patrol said there were about 90 crashes from 8 p.m. Wednesday and

5:30 a.m. Thursday. UHP reported another 30 cars slid off roads in that span.

Nearly 200 students were stranded overnight at Ridgeline Elementary School in Highland, and classes there were closed today as parents made their way to the campus to pick up their children.

Utah County seemed to get the brunt of the storm overnight, where some students at Harvest Elementary School in Saratoga Springs also were stranded Wednesday, said Rhonda Bromley, public information officer for the Alpine School District.

"They are with administrators and teachers, are warm and have food," she said.
Ten buses with 60 to 70 students each were stranded because of road closures or weather conditions Wednesday afternoon, but were later back on the move.

Thirty students were taken off a stranded bus to an LDS Church in Lehi. Parents were being called to come pick them up, Bromley said.

Teachers and administrators notified parents of their children's whereabouts, and had telephone lines open at district offices where parents could check.

Two jack-knifed semitrailers blocked several northbound lanes near Point of the Mountain, about 5:30 p.m., said UHP spokesman Cameron Roden. Traffic remained bumper to bumper throughout the evening on I-15 and State Road 92 near Alpine.

As the storm blew in late Wednesday, many motorists were caught off-guard. More than a dozen vehicles piled up in a chain-reaction crash on State Road 73 in Utah County near Saratoga Springs, but no major injuries were reported. Ten-foot snowdrifts buried some cars on that road, which remained closed into the night, said Utah County sheriff's Lt. Wally Perschon.

At one point, search and rescue crews on snowmobiles were going car to car checking on motorists, he said. Snowplows were beginning to make their way through the area at the same time.
As the cold front moves to the Colorado mountains today, a high pressure system takes hold in Utah, Seaman said. High temperatures will be about 27 in Salt Lake City today. Sunny skies will warm the air a few degrees each day through the weekend.

"We should see a dry transition through the weekend and into next week," he said.