Colorado Springs, CO : First snowfall prompts crashes, fog on Tuesday, January 3rd 2017

The first winter snowfall of 2017 was considerably mild compared to what's expected to come next.

Tuesday morning's commute was complicated by what KKTV meteorologist Emily Roehler called "light snow." The roads were slick, the air was cold and visibility due to fog became tougher the farther a driver headed out of the Colorado Springs area.

According to the Colorado Springs Traffic Management Center, at least a dozen crashes were reported throughout the city Tuesday that slowed traffic during the morning commute, including rollovers on Interstate 25 near Fountain and just south of downtown Colorado Springs.The center also reported a vehicle crashing into a median on the 5500 block of Woodmen Road and another striking a pole on Austin Bluffs Parkway west of Union Boulevard. Reports of crashes died down as the snow began to taper off Tuesday afternoon.

At least 30 snow plows quickly cleared the streets across Colorado Springs on Tuesday morning, said Chris Howard, an operations manager for the city's streets division. He said that the major roads looked "fantastic" after treatment, though there were some "slick spots" on the secondary routes as the snow fell.

However, "it almost turned into water directly behind us," Howard said, referring to a de-icing liquid drivers used to treat city streets. He said crews planned to keep monitoring conditions through the night.

"If we still have wetness, we might see some slick spots," Howard said. "It will depend on Mother Nature, but we'll have vehicles monitoring throughout the evening."

Most of Tuesday's snow was predicted to fall on the mountains. The region's lower elevation areas experienced the byproduct of a winter upslope flow that pushed snowfall from the mountains down to lower-elevation areas. "What that does is it makes a snow machine for us," said Roehler. "It will keep the snow going as long as the wind is traveling up the mountains."

The region is expected to have a slight break from wintry conditions with partly sunny skies and a high near 36 degrees Wednesday. But, Roehler said, regional weather is forecast to turn "very cold" Wednesday evening with temperatures in the teens and the possibility of "meaningful snow" moving in.

Snowfall is expected to bring in between 2 to 5 inches to Colorado Springs on Thursday, while Teller County could get up to 7 inches and Cripple Creek could receive at least 6 inches, Roehler said.

Colorado Springs could see a high of only 10 degrees Thursday.

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First snowfall prompts crashes, fog