UDOT Issues Winter Travel Advisory For Wednesday Morning
Feb 16, 2021, 10:58 PM | Updated: 11:28 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Officials with the Utah Department of Transportation have issued a winter storm advisory for travel Wednesday morning and urged drivers to plan ahead, telecommute if possible or delay their trips until later in the day.
Most of the snow will fall between Tuesday night and 10 a.m. Wednesday, with totals of 4-6 inches expected in the valleys along the I-15 corridor. Bench areas could receive up to a foot of snow and Big and Little Cottonwood canyons could get 20-25 inches of new snow.
“With this much snow expected, we’ve got to put safety first,” said John Gleason, UDOT spokesman. “If drivers can stay off the roads tomorrow morning, they can avoid the worst of the weather and give our crews a chance to remove the snow from the highways and lower the risk of avalanches in the canyons.”
Colder Temps, Ongoing Snow Expected To Cause Challenging AM Commute
The Canyons School District announced its schools would move to remote learning Wednesday, and other school districts said they would make a decision early Wednesday morning.
The University of Utah said in-person classes before 11 a.m. are canceled. The delayed start will not impact online classes or campus employees already working remotely.
“We take a lot of pride in making the roads safe,” Gleason said. “But when you look at that and see the intensity that’s coming in, we want to give people fair warning and understand what the situation on the roads is going to be and give them the opportunity if they can to adjust their schedule and stay off the road tomorrow morning.”
By Wednesday evening, the mountains will see an additional one to two feet of snow. The area was expected to dry out Thursday, before another storm arrives Friday with rain and snow, and even more possible on Saturday.
Both Cottonwood canyons were closed for avalanche work Tuesday. UDOT officials expected to reopen Big Cottonwood Canyon around 4 a.m. Wednesday but had not announced any reopening plans for Little Cottonwood Canyon.
Watch KSL Today beginning at 4:30 a.m. for the latest information on the morning weather and traffic conditions.
