ST. GEORGE — A brief storm system blew through the mountain regions of Southern Utah on Wednesday morning, causing pain for commuters in the northern parts of Washington County and areas of Iron, Beaver and Garfield counties.
A cold front blew into the region at approximately 9:45 a.m., starting with smaller-sized pellets of hail, according to the National Weather Service. The cold front that quickly blew into the Cedar Valley blew out just as quickly, and by 11:30 a.m. the skies were blue on Cedar City’s Main Street, but the snow plows still had work to do.
According to the National Weather Service, the storm has briefly ended, but more is expected before New Year’s Day.
“A system will progress through the Southwestern U.S. and Four Corners region today with locally heavy rain and mountain snow,” according to the National Weather Service Website. “Meanwhile, a very brief respite today for the West Coast and parts of the West before a slew of systems and an onslaught of moisture invades the region tomorrow into the upcoming New Year’s weekend with possible excessive rain, heavy mountain snow and high winds.”
A 30% chance of more snow on Thursday in Cedar City increases to an expected 70% chance on Friday, with warmer temperatures predicted for Saturday and Sunday, along with a 70% chance of rain/snow.
Skiers at Brian Head Resort can rejoice in 9 new inches of snow due to the storm. According to the resort’s recently updated snow report, there is a current base depth of 43 total inches of snow. Bryce Canyon is predicted to have 50% chance of snow on Friday and Saturday, and travelers to Zion National Park will see a 50% chance of rain Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Utah Highway Patrol Sergeant Cameron Roden said whether the hazardous conditions on roads are from rain or snow, the two main contributing factors to accidents on Utah highways are due to speed and tailgating.
“From my experience, weather-related accidents are caused by driving too fast for the conditions or following too closely – every time,” he said. “When the roads are packed with snow or slick with rain, drivers need to slow down and increase their following distance so they can be prepared if something happens to the car in front of them. Doing those two things would prevent a lot of accidents.”
Although less than an inch of snowfall was reported by the Cedar City Airport for Wednesday morning, the frigid temperatures quickly turned the slush to ice. The National Weather Service reported 4 inches of snowfall at Webster Flat, 14 miles east of Cedar City.
Roden said there were 11 major crashes in the southwestern Utah region as of 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, although he couldn’t say how many were a result of the sudden snowfall.
Another storm moving through the region later in the evening resulted in multiple incidents on Interstate 15 between mileposts 125 and 135 with delays of more than one hour expected, according to the Utah Department of Transportation’s traffic Twitter account. Earlier in the day there were previous advisories for using tire traction chains on both state Route 20, also known as Bear Valley, and state Route 14 outside of Cedar City.
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