Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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(Photo submitted by Brittany Mangus)
Whit Johnson reporting
From northern Utah to St.George, winter weather hit the Beehive state hard on Sunday.
People used everything from plows to snowblowers and shovels to dig themselves out of several feet of snow in some places. One resident, Michael Boone, told us, "It was bad. The wind had probably blown it up against my garage probably four feet."
The sounds of Sunday morning played a familiar tune across the state of Utah, with snow shovels scraping pavement and snowblowers running. The storm absolutely clobbered some neighborhoods, leaving residents with a day of clean-up and reflection.
Boone said, "It's probably the worst snow we've had in 10 years."
Marlene Vigil said, "I've never had this much snow."
On the highways, close to white-out conditions were reported in some places, with the Utah Highway Patrol and Utah Department of Transportation reporting numerous slide-offs across the state.
"The big problem right now," said UDOT's Nile Easton, "is actually the blowing snow, the drifting. It's so hard to predict where that's going to happen. So we'll get an area cleared, and then another big gust will come up and blow more snow right back behind our plows."
We were at Point of the Mountain just before 11 a.m., and the wind was blowing horizontally, making for some horrible driving conditions on I-15.
"When the sun goes down again, that's when people need to remember it might look dry, but there could be patches of ice," Easton said.
At the Department of Transportation Traffic Center, meteorologists kept a close watch on the storm and the roads to make sure the hardest hit areas remained safe for drivers.
"Three to four in the valley could mean one inch in West Valley and six inches in Sandy. Well, that's critical information to know," Easton said.
Back in the neighborhoods, some people tried to make the best of a frustrating situation.
Marlene Vigil told us, "This is crazy. Even our snowblower won't work."
Rocky Mountain Power did report several small outages today. No word on just how many homes were affected.
Many roads are closed because of snow. See the link on this page for that information.
Also, KSL got word that the following schools will be closed Monday due to snow:
- Maeser Prep charter school in Lindon
- Snowcrest Jr. High in Eden
- Valley Elementary in Huntsville
- No bus service will be provided in the Ogden Valley. This impacts students who live in Ogden Valley but attend Weber High.
