Stock image | St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Cars were slip-sliding away in snowy conditions in Southern Utah early Friday afternoon.

Image from traffic camera shows snowy and icy conditions around 1:30 p.m. near the site of slides and crashes involving six vehicles on U.S. 89, Glendale, Utah, March 15, 2024 | Photo courtesy of Utah Department of Transportation, St. George News

The result was four cars sliding off the road and a Kane County Sherrif’s vehicle getting hit, all in the area east of Zion National Park between Alton and Glendale. 

The multiple slips and crashes around 1 p.m. resulted in  U.S. 89 being closed for an hour for about a two-mile stretch between Lydia’s Canyon Road to the south and the Bryce Zion Campground to the north. 

“It has to do a lot with speed and just snowy conditions,” Cpl. Luis Silva with the Utah Highway Patrol said.

Silva said initially, with snow steadily falling and icy roads, a gray Toyota Camry slid off the road into a ditch around mile marker 93 – about 2 ½ miles north of Glendale.

Immediately after, a white Kia Forte also slid off in the same area. Moments later, it was followed by a black Lexus RX-350 that hit the Kia.

A silver Chevy Uplander minivan then slipped off and hit the Lexus.

After the Kane County Sheriff’s deputy arrived, they left their vehicle and began to investigate. That’s when their Chevy Tahoe was hit by a gray Ford Fusion.

The deputy was uninjured and their vehicle received a cracked bumper, but Silva said two others were transported from the area with “non-life threatening” conditions. 

Map shows location of multiple crashes in snowy and icy conditions on U.S. 89, Glendale, Utah, March 15, | Crash graphic by iStock/Getty Images Plus, photo courtesy of Google Maps, St. George News

Silva said no citations were issued, but the crashes are still under investigation. 

Just before 1 p.m., the National Weather Service’s Salt Lake City office issued an advisory about the area.

“Occasional winter driving conditions are occurring along US-89 between Kanab and Big Water continuing into tonight,” the weather service said on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter. “Slow down and use caution!”

A winter weather advisory remains for the area east of Zion National Park and much of Kane County through 6 p.m. Saturday.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2024, all rights reserved.

Chris Reed serves as a reporter for St. George News, where he has been honored with several awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for his work, including first-place accolades. He started his journalism career as a sports reporter and editor in Southern California where he once compared shoe sizes with Shaquille O’Neal and exchanged mix tapes with members of the Los Angeles Kings. After growing up in the San Fernando Valley learning karate skills from Mr. Miyagi and spending a decade in Las Vegas mostly avoiding the casinos, he came to St. George for love and married his soulmate, a lifetime Southern Utah resident. He is the proud father of two boys, his youngest a champion against both autism and Type 1 diabetes.

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