Though the snow and ice that fell Wednesday in Butler County rivaled that of any storm thus far this winter, road crews and law enforcement said they believe early preparation made for an otherwise minor event.

Preparation began by watching forecasts on Tuesday, according to Mike Mattis, PennDOT’s Butler County maintenance manager.

Crews began hitting the pavement at 1 a.m. Wednesday to pretreat the major state roads, including Interstate 79, Route 8, Route 228 and Route 19. The snow began to fall at about 3:30 a.m. in Cranberry Township, Mattis said.

The accumulation was followed by freezing rain, which then turned back to snow by late morning. All the while, crews were on the roads, Mattis said.

A string of accidents on I-79 occurred beginning at about 8 a.m., with five accidents in a two-hour span around the same stretch of road. Those accidents were minor and did not cause injuries, according to state police Trooper Dan Kesten.

“It was pretty rough everywhere, with a lot of vehicles stuck all over,” he said.

The I-79 crashes merely required tow trucks to remove the vehicles from ditches, Kesten said.

Around 9:30 a.m., Saxonburg Ambulance and Winfield Township Fire Department responded to an accident on Winfield Road in Cabot for a van into a utility pole. A man was treated for a bloody nose. The pole was damaged, but no wires came down, according to fire officials.

Another vehicle accident, on Freeport Road in Jefferson Township was reported around 12:40 p.m., though more information was not available Wednesday.

In Cranberry, Jason Dailey, public works director, said the storm went, “exactly as we thought it would,” making response easier.

Township crews were on the roads by 4 a.m., and had made three round trips by mid-afternoon. He said the snow accumulation actually helped road conditions in some spots.

“Accumulative snow is a help ... in the process of plowing, because it gives us the added benefit of traction,” he said.

As the storm wound down Wednesday, officials said they observed 3 to 4 inches of accumulation. Overall, Dailey said preparation made the response as easy as it could have been.

“The plan was pretty well thought-out and executed,” he said.

Crews were expected to make another round Wednesday, putting down more salt and pushing snow banks back toward mailboxes to allow for better drainage.

Dailey said he expected crews to work on a normal schedule Thursday morning, when they would complete touch-up work and handle any additional accumulation, which was expected to be minimal.

On the state side, Mattis said crews would continue to work until roads were clear. He said he was pleased to see motorists slowing down for crews as he drove the county’s roads Wednesday.

“I’ve been seeing a lot of people giving the plows room, which was nice to see,” he said.