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Due to snow and sleet on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, New Fairfield Resident Trooper’s Office reports vehicles are getting stuck on Brush Hill Road and are asking people not to drive “unless absolutely necessary.”

Luis Zapata shovels the sidewalk in front of his home as a mixture of snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain fell on Danbury, Friday morning, February 25, 2022, Danbury, Conn.

Crews cleared the Danbury Fair mall parking lot as a mixture of snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain fell on Danbury, Friday morning, February 25, 2022, Danbury, Conn.

Andra Cruz shovels the sidewalk in front of the Sajoma Deli Market on Main Street as a mixture of snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain fell on Danbury, Friday morning, February 25, 2022, Danbury, Conn.

Traffic heading east on I-84 Friday morning as a mixture of snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain fell on Danbury. February 25, 2022, Danbury, Conn.

A mixture of snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain fell on Danbury, Friday morning, February 25, 2022, Danbury, Conn.

Andra Cruz shovels the sidewalk in front of the Sajoma Deli Market on Main Street as a mixture of snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain fell on Danbury, Friday morning, February 25, 2022, Danbury, Conn.

A car is parked in a commuter lot as a mixture of snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain fell on Danbury, Friday morning, February 25, 2022, Danbury, Conn.

Sleet and slippery conditions were bigger problems than snowfall on Friday as the region saw a mixture snow, sleet and freezing rain cover the ground overnight.

The storm closed schools in the Danbury area, but snowfall totals weren’t as great as the up to six inches the National Weather Service predicted. Local towns saw between one to two inches, according to the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network.

“It’s unique that it was supposed to be snow and it really wasn't,” said Tim Nolan, public services superintendent in Danbury. “It was sleet from the onset. You get those little balls of ice that pile up like its snow, but it's really not, and followed by rain.”

The snow, however, was heavy and wet because of the combination of freezing rain and sleet. The mixture was expected to be mostly freezing rain and sleet before noon before transitioning to rain between noon and 4 p.m. About one-tenth of an inch of ice was expected, along with less than an inch of sleet.

Danbury issued a parking ban that went into effect at midnight so that crews could better clear the roads, but that ended at noon Friday as conditions improved. Residents were told to move their cars into the Patriot Parking Garage during the ban.

Nolan described the roads as “pretty slushy” around 9 a.m. but crews couldn’t clear the slush yet until the rain stopped and temperatures rose above freezing.

“We have to be very careful not to push off the slush or it’ll become a sleet of ice on the asphalt surface,” he said.

Newtown and Brookfield town offices are closed Friday. Ridgefield Town Hall and the Redding transfer station is scheduled to open late at noon.

New Milford Mayor Pete Bass said around 9 a.m. that crews had been working since early in the morning. The mayor reported the town was getting less snow, and more sleet, than expected.

“Up here, so far so good,” he said. “We’re getting, up here, more sleet than anything else.”

The combination of sleet and high wind speeds left open the possibility for power outages, but no outages were reported as of Friday afternoon.

“Thank goodness,” Bass said in the morning. “I’m knocking on wood.”

The town had been in touch with its Eversource liaison, who was on standby if outages occur.

New Milford’s parking ban was meant to be in place until 5 p.m. The town reported only a few minor fender-benders on the road in the morning. Public works crews would remain overnight to address spots that ice over in higher elevations, the mayor said.

“We’re just hoping for the best,” Bass said.

The freezing rain initially delayed plowing in Ridgefield, First Selectman Rudy Marconi said, but most of the local roads were “in great shape” as of noon Friday.

While the snow accumulation was minimal — around two inches — the sheer weight of it posed a bigger problem. Marconi advised residents not to shovel unless they had to, and to only do so in small quantities if necessary.

The town’s Highway Department pre-treated most of the roads Thursday night, while Parks & Recreation employees began salting parking lots at 3:30 a.m. Friday.

“Sidewalks are slowly being addressed, and it probably won’t be until tomorrow (Saturday) until everything's back to normal,” said Marconi, adding the storm could have been worse. “Once the temperatures warm up a little bit, it will be cleaned up nicely, but we ask people to be patient.”

In New Fairfield, some vehicles got stuck on Brush Hill Road, according to the New Fairfield Resident Trooper’s Office. Routes 37 and 39 were covered in snow and ice before 7 a.m., and drivers were urged to stay home.

“Stay off the roads,” Nolan said. “It makes it more efficient for us to clean the roads up so that this evening the roads will nice and safe for everyone.”

Heading toward the weekend, skies are expected to be clear Saturday with a high near 31. Some clouds are expected Sunday with a high near 40.

Staff writers Currie Engel, Alyssa Seidman and Kendra Baker contributed to this story.

Dan Brechlin is the managing editor of CT Insider at Hearst Connecticut. He was hired in September 2020 as the managing editor of the Danbury News-Times and sports. He previously worked at the Hartford Courant as the sports editor and the deputy managing editor. Prior to that he worked as city editor of the Record-Journal and a reporter before that covering his hometown of Meriden. He is a graduate of Southern Connecticut State University.

Julia Perkins has been a reporter with The News-Times since June 2016 and covers the towns of Bethel and Brookfield. She also has covered breaking news for Hearst Connecticut on weekend mornings. Graduating from Quinnipiac University in 2016, she served as the editor-in-chief of The Quinnipiac Chronicle, the weekly, student-run newspaper. She is a huge "Harry Potter" fan.