High winds sweep across Northern Utah
Apr 16, 2018, 9:21 PM | Updated: Apr 17, 2018, 1:18 am
NORTHERN UTAH – Gusts as high as 87 mph were recorded along I-80 in Tooele County. The winds also blew dust into the valley, which reduced visibility to near zero in some places.
In Utah County, the sheriff’s office closed Eagle Mountain Boulevard, between Wride Highway and Pony Express Parkway, due to low visibility.
In Tooele County, a truck and travel trailer were blown over along I-80. UDOT issued a high-profile vehicle restriction between mile markers 1 and 99. The restriction was lifted early Monday evening.
“May not get a lot of warning. It may be a sustained wind, but you can get these large gusts of up to 60 even 65 mph that we’ve seen today and that can really wreak havoc on a high-profile vehicle,” said UDOT spokesperson John Gleason. “In a wind storm or a dust storm, you don’t want to stop on the side of the road because a lot of times if other people are having problems with visibility they look at your tail lights, and follow you as a guide and, unfortunately, that can be a problem if you are stopped to the side of the road there, and we’ve seen some crashes as a result of that.”
Rocky Mountain Power said high winds caused power outages across the area. Their outage map showed more than 3,000 customers affected.
The winds also forced some events to cancel. Tours of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple in South Jordan were canceled as the winds blew tents. The Dragon Lights Festival also closed for the evening. Anyone who had tickets for Monday evening can use those tickets another day.
