Font ResizeIt's a good thing the Utah Department of Transportation has been working the past few weeks to convert heavy dump trucks used for summer construction into snowplows.
The seasons first major snowstorm is expected to leave 1 to 2 feet to the mountains Tuesday, along with some white stuff on valley floors.
The National Weather Service's Salt Lake City office expanded its winter storm watch for Tuesday morning through Wednesday evening to include the Wasatch Mountains south of I-80, the Wasatch Plateau, Book Cliffs, and the central mountains of Utah.
"We expect a strong cold front to move in just before the [Tuesday] commute that will linger through the late morning hours," said NWS forecaster Glen Merrill. "Snow levels will fall to the valley floor during the commute. There is a lot of the heat on the ground, but there should be accumulations on grassy surfaces."
Merrill said that while the storm will come with gusty winds and reduced visibility, he doesn't expect it to coat valley roads with snow. But mountain accumulations could be significant.
"There are many times when we get a storm around Halloween," he said. "This is pretty typical. There is going to be a break behind the cold front. The clouds should start lifting and breaking up by midday and then regenerate over southern Utah and the Four Corners area and wrap around moisture to northern and southern Utah and linger through Wednesday."
Another storm could hit
UDOT spokesman Adan Carrillo said crews have pretty much finished using heavy trucks for asphalt work and have been turning them into snowplows in recent weeks. That involves outfitting them with wings, blows and brine tanks.
"The brine [tanks] are the ones that hold a water and salt mix that we apply on the roads before the snow comes," he said. "That keeps the snow from sticking and makes it easier to remove. Most of our plows are ready to go. Parleys Canyon plows have been ready for a few weeks."
Some of the UDOT plows will be equipped with a new GPS system this year that allows supervisors to track trucks better, give drivers directions, and monitor how much salt they have left so drivers know when to reload. The units can also track engine use and help crews know when trucks need to go in for maintenance.
Carrillo said the first of those units will be used in Parleys Canyon.
