Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY -- Residents awoke to snow covering cars and sticking to roadways in northern Utah Friday morning. After spring temperatures earlier in the week, the winter punch serves as a reminder that spring isn't here yet.
Snow led to slick and slushy roads in spots. Troopers received reports of 37 accidents, three injuries and several slide-offs in Utah and Salt Lake counties during the morning commute.
Jon Barlow found himself caught in the middle of a crash on Interstate 15 near 600 South. "The conditions didn't seem like they were that bad, but something happened," he said.
The driver of a Honda spun out of control, crossed over to the right and hit an SUV. The Honda then slid to the left and slammed into Barlow's pickup truck, which was hauling a horse trailer.
Troopers say they are investigating why the Honda spun out, but say slippery roads may have been a factor.
"There's slush on the road," said Sgt. Sheldon Riches with the Utah Highway Patrol. "People hit that and spin out of control and that's possibly what happened here this morning."
Other areas were not immune to the snow. In Ogden, a Honda lost control and rolled into the median on Interstate 84 near Weber Canyon. And in Salt Lake, an SUV slid into the median near Interstate 215 and North Temple.
With all the crashes, amazingly there were no major injuries. Barlow and his horses were OK and the two people in the Honda were taken to the hospital in fair condition.
No one was hurt in the Ogden rollover.
Roads weren't the only thing affected by this March snowstorm. Rocky Mountain Power tells KSL hundreds of customers throughout the valley lost power for several hours in Salt Lake City's Avenues, Pleasant Grove, Orem and Tooele Valley. It was restored a couple of hours later.
The Utah Department of Transportation issued a winter weather alert. Chains are required for semis in Parley's Canyon and chains or four-wheel drive are a must for vehicles in Big and Little Cottonwood canyons. State Road 143 from Parowan to Brian Head is closed because of blowing snow.
The last snow storm in Northern Utah was about three weeks ago. The Salt Lake International Airport got two inches of snow; the mountains saw six inches at that time. Precipitation from that February storm and Friday's snowfall won't be quite enough to bring the snow pack total back to normal in Northern Utah.
Snow showers should slowly taper off later in the day. Click here for the forecast.
Get traffic updates every 10 minutes on the nines on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM.
E-mail: aforester@ksl.com
