Mother Nature copped an attitude.

Gusty winds late Thursday night and early Friday morning knocked down power lines and trees across Butler County. Snow and cold temperatures caused slick and at times hazardous roads for motorists.

For one motorist in Butler, it became a matter of life or death.

The man, whose identity was not immediately available, was traveling down North Main Street hill about 4 a.m. when a huge tree uprooted. The tree came crashing down on top of his pickup truck near Towers Apartments.

Luckily, the man was able to get out of the truck in time — and he was not injured.

Unluckily, his pickup was not spared.

“I've never seen anything like it,” said one West Penn Power worker called to the scene.

The tree also fell onto power lines and snapped at least one utility pole, sending live wires down to the ground.

Butler police immediately raced to the emergency and closed the road top to bottom — from the GetGo store to West Penn Street.

Utility crews also rushed to the scene to cut off power.

The man's wife eventually arrived to pick him up, police said. A wrecker arrived some time later to haul away his severely damaged truck.

“There are wires and trees down everywhere,” a Butler County Communications dispatcher said about 6:30 a.m. Friday.

Moments later, a pair of unrelated crashes were called in — both on the 600 block of Bonniebrook Road in Summit Township.

One of those accidents reportedly involved two cars and a school bus.

“There were no children on the bus,” the dispatcher said.

The other accident call on Bonniebrook Road was for a vehicle that overturned and landed on its wheels. One person was apparently injured in that wreck.

Wind gusts topped 40 mph Thursday night into Friday morning as measured at Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport in Penn Township, said John Darnley, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh.

There was a trace to an inch or so of snow, he said. But north of Butler County, three inches of snow were reported.

A number of roads throughout the night and Friday morning were closed because of fallen wires and trees.

In Penn Township, Renfrew Road west of Three Degree Road was closed just after 6 a.m. due to downed power lines and reopened at 11:30 a.m. Friday.

A portion of Dick Road in Connoquenessing Township was also closed about 4:40 a.m. due to downed trees and wires, according to PennDOT officials.

Felled wires on the 500 block of Sandy Hill Road also caused Middlesex Township police to close that road shortly after 3:30 a.m.

West Penn Power spokesman Todd Meyers said Friday afternoon that about 2,000 customers in the county were without power at 8 a.m.

“Now, we're down to 553, so we're moving in the right direction,” Meyers said at 4 p.m.

The most affected municipality in the county was the city, with 150 customers out, followed by Clay Township at 88 customers out, Donegal Township at 47, Marion Township at 45 and Slippery Rock Township at 43, Meyers said.

All First Energy companies, which includes West Penn Power, recorded a huge number of outages in Ohio and Pennsylvania due to the winds, Meyers said.

“We're shooting to get those customers back on, hopefully by 11 p.m.,” he said Friday. “Maybe tomorrow for some.”

He said West Penn Power crews work 16 hours on and eight hours off until all customers are back up and running.

“It's been an up-and-down day with the wind,” Meyers said.