A heavy wet snow created slippery driving conditions across the region Friday morning, leading Superintendent of Schools Joseph V. Erardi, Jr, to close Newtown's public schools for the day.

Public Works crews were all over town well before daybreak February 5, plowing roadways and putting down sand and salt. State trucks were also seen throughout the area, doing the same.

Public Works Director Fred Hurley said Friday morning he spoke an on-call staffer around 3 am, when snow was coming down but not yet sticking. The decision was made to wait another 30 minutes before calling crews in to begin working against the storm system.

"This is a very greasy, slippery type of snow," Mr Hurley said. "It's wet, and the temperatures are right around freezing, right around 32 degrees, so conditions are very slippery.

"We are using a one-to-one mix for this storm," he continued, referring to the salt-sand mixture town drivers are putting down on roads. "We have the salt to melt it, and then the sand cuts down on the slick."

The traffic volume was low compared to most Friday mornings, with many people certainly opting to stay home if possible. Plow trucks - town, state and public - were observed clearing roads, parking lots and driveways even as the snow continued to fall after daybreak.

A few minor accidents had been reported as well, including one where a driver lost control of their vehicle and struck a tree while traveling across Key Rock Road. The driver was uninjured. Another vehicle reportedly went off the side of Botsford Hill Road shortly after 9 am. The driver of that vehicle was also reportedly uninjured.

"This is a fender bender storm," Mr Hurley said. "There's no question about that. People are going to slip into things, but hopefully we won't hear about anything more serious than that."

A storm system off the East Coast was responsible for the wintry weather, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Several inches of snow were forecast for parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Winter Storm Warnings had been issued for the northeast section of Connecticut by Thursday evening. The western side of the state, including Fairfield County, was put under a Warning at 9:12 Friday morning, when the National Weather Service in Upton, N.Y., issued a warning for heavy snow. The warning was to remain in effect until 1 pm Friday.

A Winter Storm Warning, according to NWS, "for heavy snow means severe winter weather conditions are expected or occurring. Significant amounts of snow are forecast that will make travel dangerous. Only travel is an emergency.

"If you must travel," the February 5 advisory continued, "keep an extra flashlight, food and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency."

Moderate to heavy snow with accumulations of 4-8 inches were predicted for the county by the weather service, and visibility was expected to be just one quarter to one half of a mile at times.

Moderate to heavy snow during the morning hours are expected to taper off by early afternoon, according to NWS. Once the snow moves out of the area, the weekend of February 6-7 is expected to be partly cloudy to clear.

Fred Hurley was happy with that prediction.

"This storm is supposed to be over by lunchtime," the public works director said shortly before 10 am, "so we have just a couple more hours of this. The better news is, there's talk of the temperatures going up into the 40. That would probably bare off all the roads.

"So we're going to go from winter back into spring by the end of the day."