Icy roads are blamed for the death of a woman whose van slid under a parked flatbed trailer Wednesday at the Freeport West industrial park in Clearfield.
Police had not released the woman's name pending notification of kin.The accident was among hundreds resulting from slick and snowbound roads along the Wasatch Front.
Tuesday's storm dumped 7.3 inches of snow at the Salt Lake International Airport during a continuous 25-hour storm that ended early Wednesday.
Much larger amounts of snow fell between Monday night and early Wednesday at mountain ski resorts, including 32 inches at Alta, 30 at Sundance and 24 at Snowbird. Utahns were kept busy with snow blowers and shovels as they were still trying to dig out early Wednesday from the storm.
Two police officers in American Fork became part of the melee Tuesday evening as drivers tried to deal with heavy snows and icy roads. Officer Phil Terry was hit by a sliding truck as he tried to direct snarled traffic off the 100 East hill. An attending officer to Terry's accident left for another call, and his car was rear-ended at the first red light. Both accidents took place within minutes of each other, and damage was minor.
Terry, who was off duty and was driving a busload of junior high basketball players, had stopped to assist motorists trying to get up the hill.
"Traffic couldn't get up the hill," he said. "There were a couple of vehicles stuck and traffic backed up all the way to 300 North. The bus couldn't get up the hill either so I stopped to see if I could straighten it out a little.
"A truck coming down slid and knocked me into another truck," he said. "I banged my knees up pretty good."
Slick roads set off a chain reaction of accidents Tuesday afternoon on east-side I-215 near 5600 South.
"Ten cars ran into one another when motorists had trouble stopping and started swerving because of the weather conditions," said Utah Highway Patrol trooper Joe Reynolds. "People were just traveling too fast."
A teenage boy suffered minor injuries when he was hit by a car moments after being involved in an accident at 1320 E. 900 South. The teen reportedly stepped out of his car and an oncoming motorist failed to stop, striking him.
Most nasty-weather highway mishaps could be prevented by easing off the gas pedal, say police.
"I think if everyone slowed down 5 mph I'd be out of a job, but few drivers want to take me up on it," Reynolds said.
The 25 hours of continuous snow at the Salt Lake airport may have seemed like a record amount. But the storm did not set any record, either in terms of time or amounts of snow.
A total of 23.3 inches of snow fell between 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, and 11 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 10, 1993 - a nearly continuous storm over 94 hours - said National Weather Service meteorologist William J. Alder.
The 7.3 inches at the airport brought to 46 inches the total amount of snow this winter at that location. A total of 39 inches was measured during the entire snow season last year at the airport. Fifty-eight inches is normal.
Snow also limited travel late Tuesday through Big Cottonwood Canyon to motorists with snow tires and chains, while Little Cottonwood Canyon was accessible only to four-wheel drive vehicles.
Other total amounts of new snow between Monday night and early Wednesday: Alta, 32 inches; Sundance, 30; Snowbird, 24; Brighton, Deer Valley and Solitude, 20; Bountiful bench, 19; Park City, 16; Cottonwood Heights and North Salt Lake, 16; Powder Mountain, 14; SnowBasin and Wolf Mountain (formerly Park-West), Centerville, 13; Ogden, the Avenues, Layton and Payson, all 12; Holladay and Capitol Hill, both 11; Sandy, 10; Pleasant Grove, Nephi, Springville and Magna, 9; Woodland Hills, Utah County, 8; Provo, 6; and Coalville, 1 inch.