The first storm of the winter season has sent vehicle owners in search of a good deal on new tires.

Jim Young at Butler Tires For Less on Route 8 south of Butler said the store has been busy all week with drivers looking to prepare for the snowfall.

The store took 120 cars on Tuesday, and cut off taking any new customers about noon.

He said people are buying both snow tires and all-season tires. For best handling heavy snow, he recommended getting four snow tires.

Flynn’s Tire and Auto Service on North Main Street also reported heavy customer traffic, mostly customers buying tires.

But even with new treads on their cars, drivers faced a variety of road conditions, including rain, freezing rain and snow.

The change to all snow was predicted for late Tuesday and overnight, with from 3 to 7 inches anticipated by this morning and an additional 1 to 3 inches during the day.

Deborah Casadei, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation District 10, said that Thanksgiving and the start of hunting season make for some of the busiest roads during the winter.

Casadei said drivers need to be prepared before their travels to ensure a safe trip.

She said there are certain steps everyone should take to prepare their car, including having winter tires and maintaining an emergency kit.

“Kitty Litter makes for a great abrasive if you get stuck,” she said.

Perhaps the most important aspect of driving in winter weather is to take it slow.

“Slow down and give yourself a lot of extra time,” Casadei said.

Thanksgiving travelers scrambled to book earlier flights Tuesday to avoid a sprawling storm bearing down on the East Coast with snow, rain and wind that threatened to snarl one of the busiest travel days of the year and ground giant balloon versions of Snoopy and SpongeBob SquarePants in the Macy’s parade.

The iconic characters that soar through the Manhattan skyscrapers every year may not lift off Thursday if sustained winds exceed 23 mph and gusts exceed 34 mph, according to city rules.

Current forecasts call for sustained winds of 20 mph and gusts of 36 mph.

“At this time, it is too early to make any determinations on the flight of the giant balloons,” said Macy’s spokesman Orlando Veras.

“Balloons have only been grounded once in the parade’s 87-year history, when bad weather kept them from flying in 1971.

Meanwhile, meteorologists warned that the storm, which has moved across the country, would almost certainly upset holiday travel plans today for those hoping to visit loved ones in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Many travelers were moving to earlier flights, taking advantage of airlines’ policies to waive their normal change fees.

The good news is that the storm is supposed to pass through the northeast before Thanksgiving Day, with the weather mostly clearing up by this evening.