With temperatures above freezing Thursday morning, the roads remained wet, but road restrictions and school closures were announced ahead of expected colder freezing temperatures later in the day.

PennDOT has a Tier 1 vehicle restriction starting at noon for multiple interstates, including Butler County’s stretches of I-79, I-80 and the Turnpike.

A Tier 1 restriction is the first of five levels for PennDOT. It includes bans on over-sized loads; tractors without trailers; motorcycles; tow-behind trailers; RVs; campers; buses without chained tires; and box trucks.

Standard passenger vehicles are permitted until a Tier 5 restriction.

Multiple schools throughout the county also opted to keep students at home, rather than risk the icy conditions.

The following schools are either fully closed or have moved to remote learning for Thursday: Allegheny-Clarion Valley; Butler Area; Butler County Vocational-Technical; Butler County Community College; First Baptist Christian; Freeport; His Kids Christian; Karns City; Mars; Moniteau; Penn Christian; Portersville Christian; Seneca Valley; South Butler; Slippery Rock Area; Slippery Rock University; St. Luke Lutheran.

Butler County was upgraded to a winter storm warning around 3 p.m. Wednesday in consideration of a winter storm’s arrival Thursday.

According to the National Weather Service of Pittsburgh, freezing rain, sleet and snow will directly follow rain that began late Wednesday and continued through Thursday morning.

Experts said the shift to freezing rain should begin sometime Thursday afternoon.

The service’s latest predictions call for between .10 and .25 inches of ice before Thursday night snowfall, which could accumulate to one to three inches.

The service is predicting no further precipitation between Friday night and Wednesday.