Big Cottonwood Canyons reopens, Alta and Snowbird still closed after 'Unprecedented' snow

SALT LAKE CITY — A late-season snow storm lingered in Utah for several days and in its path left an "unprecedented" amount of snow for Utahns to handle.

After avalanche mitigation and roadway operation were finished, State Road 190 has been reopened, although UDOT officials are asking the public to expect delays until the queues clear.

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Snowbird received 67 inches of fresh powder. That's more than five feet of snow and as of Wednesday morning, even more snow was falling down in the area.

Alta Collins wasn't far behind with 63 inches of snow.

The storm also had a significant impact on valleys with Sandy receiving 28.6 inches of snow. For an April storm, that's a somewhat shocking total.

In North Salt Lake, 21.1 inches of snow hammered the city.

At the Salt Lake City Airport, nine inches of snow fell as of 6 a.m. Wednesday morning. While it may not seem as much compared to the other totals, the National Weather Service reports Salt Lake City has seen the most snow in April since 1984.

There is light at the end of the tunnel with sunshine and warmer temperatures in the forecast, however, managing several feet of snow has proved challenging for crews to contain.

"The end of the 5 day storm is almost here!" the NWS tweeted.

Avalanche mitigation crews have been working around the clock for days working to decrease avalanche hazards but Big Cottonwood Canyon will be closed the entire day Wednesday due to conditions.

Because of the road closure, Brighton and Solitude announced the resorts would be closed for the entirety of Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Alta and Snowbird are still closed down with no end in sight.

“Everyone’s kind of antsy, there’s definitely some cabin fever," said Luke Stone, who is stuck at Cliff Lodge at Snowbird.

Stone said he has been interlodged countless times, but never for this long.

He and other guests have not been allowed to leave the buildings they are in since Monday.

“The restaurants are running out of food, there’s not enough employees to staff the restaurant," he said.

Just up the road, Kyra McNamara is having a forced extended stay at Alta.

“We were actually supposed to leave here on Tuesday night for our flight so we pushed it to tonight, but that might not even happen.”

The New Hampshire local converted her room at the Goldminer's Daughter to an office space.

“We are trying to get some work done too since we are not home at this point,” said McNamara.

Alta hit a milestone of having received 800 inches of snow last week and had to close shortly after hitting the milestone for similar weather-related dangers.

Snowbird also closed Tuesday for skiing and riding for avalanche mitigation on the road and at the resort with an unknown opening date.'

The Utah Avalanche Center warned that avalanche danger is high across the state. They say recreators should avoid all avalanche terrain, including below steep terrain.

The canyon closure, though it may be annoying to some, is for good reason as the National Weather Service reports that Little Cottonwood Canyon is one of the highest-risk roads in North America.

Several variables determine the status of SR 210 on the Avalanche Hazard Index, including frequency of slides reaching the road, quantity of paths along the corridor and volume/speed of traffic.

The storm didn't just cause problems in the mountains of Utah. Residents across the Wasatch Front were also left to deal with more snow.

Director of Public Relations for the Utah Department of Transportation John Gleason.

"This is probably about the highest avalanche danger that we've experienced," said Gleason.

The Department of Transportation deals with road closures frequently, but Gleason said theis situation is much more severe than normal.

“We’re seeing these slides triggered in places we don’t usually see slides and so we’re putting the helicopter up there, DPS is working with us on that today," he said, "We’re dropping explosives from the sky to trigger some of these hard-to-get areas.”

Crews are working overtime on the roads, and at the resorts.

“Our employees have been working around the clock, digging, making food, helping our guests," said Communications Manager for Snowbird Sarah Sherman.

Their work did not go unnoticed by guests.

“As frustrating as it is, they’re doing their best to keep us safe, they’re putting in insane hours, doing insane work, putting themselves at risk all the time," said Stone.

Stone said he is hoping to get fresh air soon.

“Just trying to be patient," he said, "We’ve all had a lot of powder days this year so hopefully we can get a few more.”

In response to the storm, the Jordan School District was early to call a virtual learning day for Tuesday, saying district crews and contractors will be working to clear snow from school grounds throughout the day.

Other schools also called for a delayed-start on Tuesday or virtual learning days as well.

Temperatures were colder Tuesday morning when compared to Monday, so snow easily stuck to roads and plows struggled to keep up.

A lake effect band of snow meant snow came down especially hard in areas throughout the Wasatch Front Tuesday morning. The National Weather Service said the band of lake effect snow gradually shifted East across the Salt Lake Valley Tuesday morning.

Utah Highway Patrol reported that they had already responded to 64 crashes early Tuesday morning, including a semi-truck crash on Interstate 15 in Scipio that shut down the entire highway.

In that crash, a semi-truck rolled over and a photo captured by troopers showed the truck blocking all lanes of traffic.

A band of heavy snow made conditions even more difficult in the early morning hours as it made its mark from roughly Lake Point to Magna, Kearns, Bluffdale and into northern Utah County.

At one point in the early hours of Tuesday morning, snowfall rates in some areas increased up to 1.5 inches per hour with the band.

Utah's Weather Authority said this will be a slow-moving storm, meaning weather impacts will linger throughout the day in northern Utah with more accumulation through the evening.

By Thursday, conditions will be drying out, just in time for better weather and sunshine for Easter weekend.

The intense snowstorm comes as Utah's statewide average for snowpack is now 201% of normal, according to the Department of Natural Resources.

While it may be a bummer for Utahns to pull out the snow shovel once again, the added moisture is great news for the state, which has suffered from drought for many years.