Duane Peters, of Butler, removes snow from the sidewalk along Roosevelt Boulevard on Monday, Jan. 23. Peters worked from his house to the intersection with Pittsburgh Road. He said he has neighbors who are elderly and likes to help them out. Cary Shaffer/Butler Eagle

A Sunday night squall showered snow throughout the region, occupying emergency road crews well into the night and delaying a small number of school openings Monday, Jan. 23.

First responders assisted with more than a dozen vehicle crashes since the snow hit, according to police reports.

The snowstorm caught the National Weather Service a little off-guard, said meteorologist Jason Frazier.

“This was actually something that was probably not expected or at least was a low-probability event, but it goes to show how just a few degrees’ difference can make in the precipitation type during wintertime,” Frazier said. “We didn’t quite warm up as much as we were anticipating.”

These freezes led to snow piling up in 2-inch and 3-inch layers throughout the region, Frazier said.

While dry weather is expected for Tuesday, residents should prepare for the possibility of another snowfall Wednesday, Frazier said. Then temperatures could again plunge lower than predicted and turn precipitation into snow, Frazier said.

“The next system we’re going to be having a lot of eyes on is Wednesday,” Frazier said, referring to another expected storm system. “There’s a lot of variance to potential outcomes for it, with ... generally snow ... changing over to rain at certain points.”

It’s possible accumulations from any potential snowfall Wednesday could exceed 4 or 5 inches, Frazier said.

“So we just recommend folks keep an eye out,” he said. “There are going to be a lot more posts through our social media channels, projections announced over the next 24 hours that provide more details and clarity on what potentially you could see for the system.”

As with similar extreme weather conditions, drivers should take extra caution when traveling, Frazier said.

“It doesn’t take much to make a roadway slick,” Frazier said. “And there is potential with this next system to have a similar impact, as we saw here over the past 24 hours, in that we could see fairly quick accumulations. ... And if that is the case, then roadways can very rapidly deteriorate in condition.”

This snowstorm isn’t unusual for January, but over the next week-and-a-half residents can likely expect an active weather pattern of either snow or rain, Frazier said.

“So just be aware that the days of having dry weather, clear skies, they’re going to be kind of hard to find,” Frazier said.

The latest storm system has formed in a way that distinguishes a difference between Sunday’s snowstorm and the bomb cyclone that affected much of the United States just before Christmas about a month ago, Frazier said.

“The biggest difference is the path that these two systems came from,” he said. “That one was a little more out of Canada, whereas this one’s more out of Colorado, ... The December system provided a huge shock of cold air ... a lot of extreme wind chills.

“If anything, warmer air from the south will turn some of the approaching storms into rain,” Frazier said.