A mix of snow, rain and sleet glazed area roads and sidewalks on Monday, making it treacherous to travel on four tires or two feet.
Two men were injured while walking in Carbondale at 11 a.m. when a truck dumping anti-skid material onto Dundaff Street got caught up on an overhead wire, snapping an attached utility pole that then struck one of the pedestrians and landed on the other, police said.
Neither man had life-threatening injuries, but one was more severely injured than the other, police said. Both were taken from the scene by ambulance.
The driver of the truck was not injured, police said, and no charges will be filed.
Throughout the day, emergency crews responded to cars sliding off expressways, rural roads and neighborhood streets.
A winter weather advisory projected to end at 5 p.m. didn't expire until 10, and the National Weather Service forecast up to a quarter of an inch of ice accumulation, especially on untreated surfaces.
Across the state, the storm was blamed for a series of fender benders during the morning commute, The Associated Press reported.
In downtown Scranton, pedestrians shuffled along sidewalks trying to determine what was ice, slush or solid ground.
The state Department of Transportation reported that the region's highways were wet with freezing conditions in most areas and snow- or slush-covered in higher elevations. A truck crash and fire closed a lane on Interstate 84 west near the Lake Wallenpaupack exit for several hours in the afternoon.
The warm weather that helped turn the snow to freezing rain will bring milder temperatures today, forecasters said, although it is also expected to cause dense fog this morning.
It will be mild and cloudy today with spotty showers in the afternoon and night and a high of 45 degrees, AccuWeather meteorologist Andy Mussoline said. After a warm night with a low of 41 degrees, Wednesday is expected to reach a high of 59 with periods of rain.
"That's going to feel like a heat wave," he said, but added that the warm spell will be brief: Thursday will be breezy and colder, peaking at 37.
Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.com