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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A winter storm pummeled the mountains of Eastern Utah Saturday, creating hazardous road conditions but welcome new snow for ski resorts.
The National Weather Service issued a snow advisory for the Wasatch and Uinta mountains, where 5 to 13 inches of snow were predicted by Sunday morning. A heavy snow warning was issued in the valleys, including the I-15 corridor from Nephi to Cedar City, where an estimated 6 to 12 inches of snow were predicted to fall.
The valley was expected to be hit with up to another 3 inches of snow Sunday, with between 4 and 8 inches falling in the mountains, said Mark Struthwolf, a National Weather Service meteorologist based in Salt Lake City.
A heavy snow warning remained in effect for the central and southern mountains, which were expected to receive between 1 to 2 feet of snow since Friday night, Struthwolf said.
"We're thrilled," said David Fields, a spokesman with Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort. "We're quickly marching toward 500 inches." Fields said year-to-date snowfall of 433 inches at the resort was way ahead of any of the last five years.
A south-east flow of dry air along the backside of the Wasatch mountains created sporadic snow flurries and even patches of sun at some resorts Saturday.
Chains were required in the Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons, but there were no major accidents as of Saturday morning, said a dispatcher with the Utah Department of Transportation, who declined to give her name. All highways were open, and only minor fender benders with minimal injuries were reported, she said.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
