An unexpected snowfall made traveling conditions slippery Sunday morning through out the county, including downtown Butler. Today's forecast calls for occasional snow flurries until 1 p.m. when the precipitation could change over to a drizzle, according to the National Weather Service.

Snow way!

Motorists expecting a respite following a winter storm last week that dropped between eight and 16 inches of snow in Butler County got a rude awakening this morning.

The white stuff began falling around 1 a.m. or so, and before long had accumulated into multiple inches, making roads slick across the county.

For local street departments and PennDOT, it was a wake-up call that was not anticipated.

“We were not expecting this,” a dispatcher at the Butler County Communication Center said about 7:30 a.m. “It caught all of coming in for daylight (shifts) kind of by surprise.”

A dispatcher at the state police barracks in Butlern had a similar take.

“Not expecting this,” he said, “Not at all.”

The 911 center between 4:30 and 5 a.m. started getting calls from police departments requesting plows to come out and hit the roads with salt and other treatment.

“It's been pretty widespread,” the county dispatcher said.

Only one minor accident was reported, about 7:05 a.m. on Franklin Road in Jackson Township where a woman lost control of her car and traveled into a ditch. She was not injured but her vehicle had to be towed.

“We've only had a couple call for vehicles that slid off roads,“ the state police dispatcher said.

On of those calls was about 7:10 a.m. for a vehicle into a median on Route 422 in Muddy Creek Township.

Lee Hendricks, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, admitted surprise, too.

Asked around 8 a.m. what happened, he said, “A little more moisture associated with this system than what everything was indicating until about 12 hours ago.

At 6:20 a.m., the weather service issued a special weather statement for Butler County and much of Western Pennsylvania.

“Snow falling across Western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia is accumulating at higher elevations and sticking to roadways this morning,” the advisory said. “Snow will taper off this morning as the system moves east of the region.”

The forecast for today calls for occasional snow flurries until 1 p.m. when the precipitation could change over to a drizzle. The high temperature will be near 36 degrees. No snow is predicted for tonight.

On Monday, there is a chance of showers, mainly after 4 p.m., with snow showers likely around 10 p.m.