Heavy Snow Brings Down Trees Across Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – A spring snowstorm brought down trees and large branches across the Salt Lake Valley Friday.

Tony Gliot, the directory of Salt Lake City’s Urban Forestry Division, said thousands of trees had been affected. Some came down on vehicles and houses. He said he couldn’t recall a similar situation in the last decade. He said the heavy snow came when the trees were especially vulnerable. He said the trees had already begun taking in water to send to their leaves, making them top-heavy. As heavy snow piled up on the branches, some gave way. Other trees fell right over as the saturated ground gave way.

A large tree fell onto a house owned by Jeff Crandall on 1400 East. He said it happened around 7:30 Friday morning.

“Just a loud rumbling noise that kept getting louder and louder and then it suddenly stopped with a bang against the house,” Crandall said.

The tree seriously damaged a car in their driveway, but it appeared their house was not seriously damaged. Crandall said he felt lucky.

“It could have wiped out the front half of my house pretty easily,” he said.

Gliot said the city received hundreds of calls about trees Friday. He expected they would be finding damage for several weeks and cleaning things up into summer. He said they are prioritizing trees that are creating hazards. He said their biggest concern is that there may still be broken branches that have not fallen from trees yet. He urged people to be vigilant when walking under large trees.