SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, April 14, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — Thousands of Utah homes and business are without power Wednesday morning thanks to a storm moving across the region which generated wind gusts close to 80 mph overnight.
As of 9:00 a.m., Rocky Mountain Power reported 80 outages impacting 2,016 customers in northern Utah, the vast majority of them in Salt Lake City in the Sugarhouse area. Earlier in the morning most of the outages were near Farmington and further north into Davis and Weber counties.
Estimated repair times varied on the Rocky Mountain Power website.
According to the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City, at 6:30 a.m. winds were “gusting near 70 to 80 mph at the mouth of Weber Canyon with occasional gusts to 55-60 mph elsewhere especially near Harrisville and Bountiful.”
The NWS advised commuters in Davis County that “closures would continue for high profile vehicles through at least mid-morning, including I-15 and Legacy from Kaysville to Bountiful.”
The UHP tweeted it had dealt with three accidents involving semi trucks Wednesday morning, including one which closed I-80 westbound.
“On WB I-80 at the mouth of Parley’s (MM 130), a semi hauling tractor parts hit the concrete barrier and its trailer rolled over the barrier. Traffic is being diverted to I-215. WB I-80 is currently closed while we get a heavy duty wrecker, or two, to clean up the mess,” the UHP said.
The Utah Department of Transportation told commuters, “The area of the highest concerns will be along I-15 in the Centerville/Farmington area, near the mouth of Ogden and Weber canyons, along I-15 near Brigham City where gusts to 65 mph may be possible through the early morning hours,” UDOT wrote.
“Gusts to 40-50 mph may still be possible for Cache Valley and areas on the western side of I-15 through the morning hours,” the UDOT post said.
Winter driving conditions were also being reported across the Wasatch and Wasatch Back, UDOT said.
According to UDOT, the following routes will experience weather-related travel concerns during the forecast period:
I-15, ID border to Salt Lake City (highest near Brigham City and Kaysville to Bountiful)
I-84, Tremonton to Morgan (highest near the mouth of Weber Canyon)
I-80, Mouth of Parleys Canyon
US-89, Idaho Border through Cache Valley to Bountiful (highest near the mouths of the canyons)
SR-30, I-15 Jct. to Logan (highest near Logan)
