Area police departments responded to numerous reports of vehicles sliding off roads due to patches of ice. Most of the incidents occurred during early-morning rush when people were heading to work and students to school. Warren County Sheriff Kevin Harrison said his deputies responded to four accidents and assisted three motorists during a 24-hour period Monday. All seven calls were related to the wintery weather. "There was some patches and then a glazed spot where it caught (drivers) off guard," Harrison said. "It was the first cold weather of the season and they weren't expecting anything." The Warrenton Police Department also spent Monday morning answering two calls. Police Chief Davis Bernard compared Monday's winter mix to the first spring rainfall. "This wasn't a snow with accumulation so it fools you when you hit a slick spot," Bernard said. In Wright City, Police Chief Henry Matthews said his department responded to only three minor accidents caused by the winter's first snow. "We had some slick roads in our area until the city crews took care of them," he said. "We had some slide-offs, but nothing major. Everybody was watching what they were doing." Matthews reminded drivers to be cautious when out on the roadways this winter. "This time of year they need to look out for black ice," he said. "It won't show until you're on it. People hit that slick spot and away they go." Most of the accidents were minor and caused only minimal damage, but one Wright City woman was taken to the hospital following a one-vehicle crash Monday morning. Naomi J. Lewis, 29, was driving southbound on Route J when her 1997 Ford Explorer hit a slick spot, slid off the road and overturned, coming to rest on its wheels. She was transported to St. Joseph Hospital West in Lake Saint Louis with minor injuries. In another one-vehicle mishap, Jonesburg resident Tammy Crawley, 38, flipped her Ford Explorer while heading eastbound on the south service road west of Warrenton. When Crawley's vehicle overturned, it struck and caused minor damage to a building at Warrenton Steel. Following the 8:15 a.m. wreck, she complained of stiffness. "I just went off the road," Crawley said. "I go slow because I don't like this stuff." Three slide-offs also occurred on Route U at Woolf Road just outside of Warrenton on Monday morning. No vehicles were damaged and all three drivers were uninjured. Norman Hellebusch, MoDOT regional maintenance supervisor in Warrenton, said his department was called out to plow area roads at 12:30 a.m. Sunday and continued until Monday afternoon. "This was truly a tricky little storm," he said. "It didn't want to quit." The snowfall, which began late Saturday night and dropped more flakes Sunday, was reported to be no more than 2 inches in the county. Warrenton Public Works Director Rob Hamlin said his crew needed less than two hours to lay down cinders and salt. He noted the city is in the process of being able to pretreat roads up to three days before a storm's arrival. "We were able to get everyone out for the first run," Hamlin said. "It was a strange storm. It was wet then after daylight it froze back over. It popped up on us."

Hello, Winter: Snow, Ice Causes Slick Spots

Hello, Winter: Snow, Ice Causes Slick Spots