12-22-10 —    Wayne County recorded its first significant snowfall of the season over the weekend and it made roads slick and travel difficult.

    Officially, the local snowfall total on Monday morning was five inches, according to J.D. Rogers, local observer for the National Weather Service.

    Rogers said that he reached that total by averaging spots where snow had drifted and areas where snow was at a lower point. He noted that about two inches of snow was on the ground at about dark on Sunday night and the rest fell overnight.

    The winter storm began as rain here in Wayne County on Saturday evening. Rogers said it switched over to snow at about 5 a.m. Sunday.

    Winds and bitterly cold temperatures made conditions even worse. 

Rogers recorded a temperature of 16 degrees at 7 a.m. Monday. He said the thermometer dipped to a low of 14 degrees before recovering to 16 degrees.

    Wind chills made it feel like it was in the single digits on Monday, which made it difficult for Wayne Countians to dig out.

    Local officials reported a few traffic mishaps, but nothing serious. 

Most involved vehicles that had slid from roadways and had to be towed. No injuries had been reported as of Monday morning.

    By midday Monday, most main roads were passable but conditions on side roads were much worse.

    In the county, crews and trucks were out scraping and salting roads. 

County Judge-Executive Greg Rankin said his office had received about 60 calls regarding road conditions by Monday afternoon.

    He said that so far there had been no major problems and no need for any type of emergency shelter to be set up.