Morning snow and freezing rain kept emergency services hopping Wednesday
Dispatchers at the county 911 center were busy Wednesday morning as snow and a wintry mix swept over the county.
Snow in the northern half of Butler County began in the early hours of Wednesday , while the southern half saw no flakes until about 7:15 a.m.
The white stuff fluttered down fast and furious through the morning commute, then changed to a wintry mix of freezing rain and snow before turning over to rain for a short time.
State Department of Transportation District 10 officials announced many roads had been pretreated to prevent ice from bonding to the surface. PennDOT also set traffic restrictions for interstate highways.
The PennDOT highway restrictions were lifted at 2:15 p.m.
The county 911 center crew began dispatching fire, police and ambulance personnel at 8:20 a.m., when three cars were involved in a crash in Adams Township at the intersection of Adams Pointe Boulevard and Clubside Drive.
On Route 422 in Summit Township, a box truck was turned on its side on Route 422, and later, I-79 from exit 96 to 99 in Butler County closed for a few hours after a jackknifed tractor-trailer was reportedly blocking the northbound lanes at the ramp to Route 488.
Other crash locations included a truck into a tree on Dinnerbell Road in Penn Township, a vehicle into a house in southern Adams Township, and two stuck tractor-trailers in the Bruin area.
Once the offending precipitation eased up, the dispatches to accident scenes did as well.
Most school districts within Butler County announced a two-hour delay in the early hours, then opted to close as the snow began to fall.
The Thursday forecast calls for clouds with snow showers and temperatures in the low to mid 30s. Snow accumulation is predicted to be less than 1 inch.
Snow showers on Thursday evening will bring about one inch of snow.
