Northern Utah to see more snow Friday; UHP urging caution after roughly 260 crashes

SALT LAKE CITY — A round of lake effect snow is set to hit the northern Wasatch Front and higher elevations Friday morning, and state troopers are reminding drivers to slow down due to slick, icy conditions on roads across the state.

The Utah Highway Patrol had responded to approximately 260 crashes statewide as of 9 a.m. Friday, and that number is likely to rise as snow continues to stick to roads across the Wasatch Front.

The KSL Weather Team says lake effect snow will develop throughout the morning with Salt Lake, Weber and Davis counties receiving another 1″ to 3″.

Benches in the area could see 4″ to 8″ while the Cottonwoods could get another 8″ to 14″ of snow.

Here's what we could see today pic.twitter.com/5fDfPRwWZG

— Grant Weyman (@KSLweyman) December 10, 2021

Things will start clearing up Friday afternoon, but icy conditions could continue through the night as temperatures will stay in the 30s and 20s.

The traction law was already in effect for the Cottonwood Canyons Friday morning, and officials with the Utah Department of Transportation urged drivers to use caution.

On Thursday, emergency crews responded to a semi-truck crash that temporarily closed southbound Interstate 215 near North Temple, a slide-off crash in Big Cottonwood Canyon, a crash involving a Morgan County school bus and multiple crashes in Sardine Canyon.

One of those Sardine Canyon crashes left a man in critical condition.

“A lot of time we think it’s not going to happen to us until it’s too late,” said Sgt. Cameron Roden with the Utah Highway Patrol.

He said it’s the same thing in virtually every snowstorm — a combination of drivers who are either too confident or don’t have their cars ready for the conditions — or both.

“We do ask that people adjust and a lot of times people think, you know, ‘I’m fine, I’m doing maybe the speed limit or just over the speed limit.’ But when there’s no snow on the road we need to slow down, even slower than the speed limit,” Roden said.

Snow was quickly sticking to Utah’s surface streets and freeways by 8 a.m. Friday. I-15 saw heavy delays in both directions from Clearfield to Spanish Fork, and southbound I-15 was temporarily shut down in Draper due to multiple crashes and poor road conditions.

UDOT officials urged drivers to slow down, leave early and expect delays throughout the morning across the state. If you can, please delay travel until Friday afternoon, when the snow will clear up.