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Aside from Southern Utah, today's storm also hit Utah County particularly hard. It came right in the middle of the morning commute, making getting to work quite difficult for some drivers.
It was a very slow drive for thousands in Utah County commuters this morning. Fender benders, slide-offs and cars simply getting stuck caused many people to be late to work.
Snowplows had a hard time keeping up with the snowfall, and some residents ended up using a snowblower at least twice.
The storm also created a lot of work for tow-truck drivers like Ron Mortensen. "I've already been 150 miles today," he said. "It's good and bad: It keeps me busy, but nobody likes to go out in waist-deep snow without their boots on."
He and other tow-truck drivers went to one call after another. An accident Provo Canyon was caused by a truck going too fast, losing control and pushing a car right into the rocks of the canyon.
"A lot of vehicles [are] going too fast for the slippery road conditions. The roads really aren't that icy, but there's a lot of slush from the snowfall we've had today," Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Tracy Paletta said.
With more storms on the way, UHP gives us this simple advice: just slow down. "When conditions are like this, add a little more time to your drive and slow down. If you don't have to pass, don't pass," Paletta said.
So far, UHP has dealt with about 50 accidents in the county today Overall, there were no serious injuries from any of these accidents this morning, but the storm left tens of thousands of dollars in damage to the wrecked cars.
E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com
