SALT LAKE CITY — As the snow fell Thursday, making conditions on Utah highways dangerous enough to issue warnings asking people to stay away off the road, some drivers were a welcome sight behind the wheel.
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Traffic was a mess on almost every major road as the storm brought snakes of red lights to every highway in the Salt Lake region.
It was stressful for regular drivers, as well as those on the plows.
Dyllan Rich is in his third year of plowing for the Utah Department of Transportation, largely up Little Cottonwood Canyon. It's no surprise when Rich says this year has been far more inconsistent when it comes to flakes flying.
“It’s been a really light winter, compared to what we all thought,” he said.
But for one day at least, and maybe a full weekend, the snow made his and other plow driver's jobs a necessity.
“It can be kind of scary at times," Rich admitted. "You can’t see anything but your windshield wipers, sometimes your head plow … and it gets to the point sometimes where you have to have both wings down and kind of feel for things”
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That danger was evident across the state on Thursday. With standstill traffic on Interstate 15, a car fire and more than 180 crashes according to the Utah Highway Patrol.
It was a lot for UDOT to keep up with.
“Sometimes, we have to go and work with different sheds, try and figure out what we need to do to clear the roads. The big thing is we can’t lose a storm,” Rich explained.
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When Rich heads out to work the night shift to keep the roads clear, he’s watching for fast-changing conditions and warning Utahns for their morning commute.
“When it starts to go from wet and then gets really cold and freezes over, that’s usually some of the scariest times because it can cause black ice,” he shared. “the biggest thing you can do is try and drive safe.”
