Last Friday, a school bus collided with a pickup truck. A school bus about two-thirds of the way full was headed to Century Elementary School when it crashed on a foggy road in Box Elder County. Superintendent Ron Wolff said that bus speeds were relatively low. No drivers were injured, but several kids are being treated for minor injuries. Three students were taken to the local hospital for further examination.
The accidents were a continuation of the crazy ice conditions on Thursday. Between 9:00 pm Thursday night and 3:00 am Friday, 26 weather related accident were reported by the Utah Highway Patrol alone.
The unusual freezing rain created many problems. All runways at the Salt Lake City International Airport were closed after a plane reportedly slid off the runway. In the Salt Lake County alone, hundreds of accidents took place, 128 property destruction, 25 personal injuries, and eight slide-off incidents. The Orem Police department reported 25 accidents in the morning. These extreme conditions were unlike any weather most Utah residents have ever seen. Some vehicles crashed going only 20 mph.
KSL Meteorologist Grant Weyman said that Thursday morning’s weather was one of the strangest he’d ever seen. He also explained that because of this inversion that has been around for the past 10 days, it started to rain in the upper, warmer air, then came through to the cold valley air, and created freezing rain.
Luckily it appears that the worst of the crazy icy conditions is over. From all of us at Christensen & Hymas, stay cautious and aware on the roads, no matter what conditions!