Northern Utah hit with morning snow; winter weather warnings, advisories issued
Ryan Aston, Standard-Examiner
A snow-covered road in Riverdale near 4400 South, pictured Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024.The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for the northern Wasatch Front and into eastern Box Elder County, including Ogden, Snowville, Brigham City and Bountiful, on Wednesday morning, citing expected snowfall accumulation of 3-7 inches. That advisory will remain in effect until 5 a.m. Thursday.
Meanwhile, 12-24 inches of accumulation was expected higher in the Upper Cottonwoods and Logan-area mountains. A winter storm warning for those areas and throughout the state will remain in effect until 11 a.m. Thursday. Peak snowfall rates along the Wasatch Front were expected late Wednesday into early Thursday.
Travelers have been advised to keep an extra flashlight, food and water in their vehicle in case of an emergency.
A Weber County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson told the Standard-Examiner that, despite the snow-packed roads, authorities had only seen a handful of slide-offs from motorists on local roads through the early afternoon Wednesday. However, it was noted that troopers on the highways had seen a significant number of incidents. Several crashes were reported by UDOT via social media channels, including locally in Davis, Weber and Box Elder counties.
Officials at the Ogden School District delayed the start time for classes by two hours Wednesday due to the snowfall. School proceeded as scheduled for Weber and Davis school districts.
The Utah Avalanche Center reported high avalanche danger in the mountains near Ogden, Logan, Salt Lake City, Provo, Skyline and the Uintas. The Ogden-area forecast included a public advisory to stay away from slopes steeper than approximately 30 degrees, as well as those connecting.
David Reed, deputy chief of the Weber Fire District, told the Standard-Examiner that residents and businesses also should be mindful of fire hydrants and gas meters potentially becoming buried by the snow.
It’s a point that was hammered home when the main lodge structure at Nordic Valley Ski Resort caught fire Monday morning following a weekend of snowfall.
“The Nordic fire, we had to dig those hydrants out to get water to the engines,” Reed said. “(The trucks) have 500-1,000 gallons, but it actually goes fast. They can use that water to extinguish, but the problem is until multiple people get there, the first crews, when they run out of water, they’ve got to grab shovels and start digging for a hydrant so they can get additional water on there. Obviously, that was a big fire so we needed a lot of water, and until we could get the hydrants exposed and ladder truck set up, it was hard to fight that fire.”
