This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Ice, snow, wind, slush . . . repeat. That's not only northern Utah's forecast for the next couple days, but the recipe for a prolonged Winter Storm Warning.

As the Wasatch Front awoke Tuesday to 1-3 inches of new snow in the valleys and up to a foot in the mountains, the National Weather Service already had a Winter Weather Advisory in place for northern and northwestern Utah.

That was only a modest commuter headache compared to what comes at the midweek. On Wednesday morning, drivers may add the gnashing of teeth and an occasional wail to their cranial throbbing as they slip and slide to work in a major snowstorm.

The Winter Storm Warning kicked in at midnight from Logan south through Ogden, Salt Lake City, Park City, Provo, Nephi, Richfield and Price, as well as to the Utah-Nevada border. Before the warning expires at 11 a.m. Thursday, 6-12 inches of valley snow and 2-3 feet of the white stuff in the mountains are expected.

Winds of 15-25 mph will produce blowing and drifting snow, and the fresh precipitation — on top of earlier layers of ice and snowfall — will make for some white-knuckle driving throughout the region.

As of 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, accumulated storm totals had the area's ski resorts awash in heavy snowfall. Brighton Crest measured 29 inches; Solitude had 27 inches; Park City's mountain station and the Collins site at Alta each had 23; Powder Mountain 10 and Snowbird 8 inches.

Provo Canyon hit 22 inches; Springville had 14; Logan and Ogden reported 6-8 inches, depending on valley or bench measurements; Sandy had 8.5; Salt Lake City 7.6; Smithfield and Brigham City 7; ; West Jordan and Sandy 7; Spanish Fork and Bountiful 6; and Tooele had 5 inches.

The Utah Highway Patrol, which responded to some 180 weather-related crashes and slideoffs on Monday including three non-injury collisions involving troopers' cruisers, was busy once again Tuesday on snowpacked and slippery freeways and highways. As of 10 a.m., troopers had been dispatched to more than three-dozen accidents, none with serious injury, along the Wasatch Front.

Salt Lake City International Airport reported 19 flights delayed, but none canceled as of 9 a.m. Tuesday; an hour later, that number had dropped to 11.

The Utah Department of Transportation restricted Big and Little Cottonwood canyons to tire-chained or four-wheel-drive vehicles Tuesday morning. The same orders were in place for U.S. 191 through Indian Canyon; U.S. 189 through Provo Canyon required all semi-trailer rigs to chain up.

In addition to 1-4 inches of wind-driven, fresh snow, Wednesday's forecast for the Salt Lake and Tooele valleys called for high temperatures in the mid-30s. Thursday will bring more snow with highs struggling to hit the upper 20s — a mere 5-7 degrees warmer than overnight lows.

Southern Utahns escape the snow but not some cold rain through the midweek. Wednesday will be wet, after a partly cloudy Tuesday, bringing high temperatures in the low-50s. Thursday will be a degree or two cooler and again rainy. Overnight lows will be in the 30s.

The Utah Division of Air Quality rates the entire state as "green," or healthy for the air out there into the midweek.

The Utah Avalanche Center began Tuesday with the Uintas at "considerable" risk for potentially deadly backcountry mountain snowslides, while the Logan, Ogden, Salt Lake, Provo, Skyline and Moab mountains were rated "moderate," and the Abajos "low" for avalanche danger.

For more extensive forecast information visit the Tribune's weather page at http://www.sltrib.com/news/weather/.

Twitter: @remims School snow closures, delays •

Park City School District: closed Tuesday; classes expected to resume on Wednesday

Canyons School District: all schools delayed beginning of classes two hours on Tuesday.

Nebo School District: all schools delayed beginning of classes two hours, kindergarten canceled on Tuesday.