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Winter storm causes crashes and closes I-15 in southwestern Utah

The Salt Lake City area can expect snow all week — but not a lot of it.

(Courtesy of the National Weather Service) More winter weather is on the way for portions of central and southern Utah. Expect winter driving conditions at all elevations. This includes the St. George area Monday night into Tuesday morning.

  | Jan. 25, 2021, 3:06 p.m.
| Updated: Jan. 26, 2021, 4:28 a.m.

A winter storm warning is in effect in central and southern Utan through 11 a.m. Tuesday.

The National Weather Service is forecasting 1-3 inches of snow at elevations below 3,500 feet and 5-10 inches above 3,500 feet in southern Washington County, including St. George and Zion National Park. And there could be even more snow in some locations.

The NWS said moderate to heavy snow would continue across southern Utah into Monday night and warned of dangerous road conditions. Travel could be “very difficult to impossible,” the NWS tweeted, especially on Interstate 15 south of Cedar City, U.S. 89 into Kanab, SR-12 from the junction with U.S. 89 to Torrey, and on SR-9 through Zion National Park.

At around 9 p.m. Monday night, I-15 was closed in both directions near the SR-17 junction in Washington County, according to the Utah Department of Transportation. UDOT tweeted the closure was because of slide-offs and crashes, and did not say when the freeway would reopen.

And State Route 9 through Zion National Park temporarily closed Monday night because of ice and snow, park officials tweeted. No traffic was allowed through Zion.

As of 7 p.m. Tuesday, Kanab had received 5 inches of snow, Escalante 3 inches and Dammeron Valley 3.5 inches, according to a National Weather Service report.

St. George will see highs near 40 and lows near 30 through Wednesday, when the chance of additional snow falls to 20%. The forecast calls for partly cloudy skies and a high near 50 on Thursday — and then a chance of more rain and snow on Friday.

Northern Utah can also expect snow, but not nearly as much. There’s a chance of precipitation in the Salt Lake City every day through the end of the week, but accumulations of less than half an inch per day are expected.

After a high of 37 on Monday, Tuesday will be the coldest day of the week, with temperatures topping out just below freezing. It’ll be back up to about 37 on Wednesday and in the mid-40s on Thursday and Friday, with overnight lows in the 30s.

— Tribune reporter Rebekah Wahlberg contributed to this story.