Local residents faced a fast-moving winter storm that brought snow, as well as some sleet, into town on Sunday, January 19 into Monday, January 20.

Newtown received between 3-4 inches of snow overall, according to Public Works General Supervisor Anthony Capozziello. He said the accumulated precipitation fell on the lower end of initial expectations, which were originally calling for 4-8 inches of snow.

As far as any impact to the roads, Capozziello told The Newtown Bee this week that Town employees who spent nearly 24 hours working through the storm — which arrived early Sunday afternoon and cleared by early Monday — did not have many complaints. He did note that there was a little sleet mixed in with the snow, which caused a hard pack of snow and ice on the road.

“It was harder to get the roads down to asphalt. And then the temperature dropped too, which created ice,” Capozziello explained. “So it was harder for us, especially on the back roads.”

Despite that, he said everything overall “went smoothly.” Capozziello added that Town drivers workers had worked hard through the night to make sure that all roads were safe for travel.

Newtown Police Department Lieutenant Scott Smith said local police assisted nine motorists who became stranded due to the road conditions from the storm. The assistance included moving vehicles off the road and into a safe location, pushing vehicles out of snow when they were stuck, and remaining with vehicles awaiting a tow truck if they were stuck in the roadway, so as to keep vehicles and their occupants safe.

Smith added that the police department also responded to one weather-related motor vehicle accident, which had no injuries.

“Our records do not indicate any injuries or significant damage as a result of the snow,” Smith said.

Capozziello said he believes the low number of issues from the storm was partially due to the fact it arrived on a holiday weekend. January 20 was Martin Luther King Jr Day. All of the local schools, as well as other facilities such as C.H. Booth Library and Newtown Senior Center, were all closed in observance of the federal holiday.

“There weren’t many people traveling because it was a holiday weekend, and a lot of places such as schools were already closed the next day,” Capozziello said.

Between that and the snow starting to come in on Sunday night, he said it gave the Town crews a lot of time to respond and handle the weather. When it comes to dealing with snow, Capozziello said he thinks “everybody kind of knows the drill now.” He encourages people to stay home during bad weather if possible, but to be careful if they have to drive on the roads.

“It really wasn’t a blockbuster storm,” Capozziello said. “To us, it was more like a routine storm.”

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.