Parts of St. Lawrence County received four inches of snow and a thick sheet of ice along with it Wednesday morning. That made for slick traveling. Our Cara Thomas has more on the North Country's first taste of snow this season.

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POTSDAM, N.Y. -- Gary Palmer was surprised to see four inches of snow on the ground Wednesday. And with rain and sleet falling all morning, leaving for work wasn't as simple as it usually is.

"Well, actually, when I went out this morning to get into my truck, my truck had a real nice coating of ice on it. I actually had to pry my doors open to get into it," says Palmer.

By the time Palmer began driving on the slippery roads, the Potsdam Highway Department had already been out for hours. They began clearing snow at 4:30 in the morning.

"The plow crews have all been out, the county, state, towns, they're using a lot of extra salt this morning," said John Keleher, Potsdam's Highway Superintendent.

And by 11 a.m., the plows had already been through the Town of Potsdam three times, all 248 miles, using three loads of the salt mixture per vehicle.

Keleher said, "Yeah, we were prepared. We usually start getting prepared for normal winter in October, but on Monday this week, we started going over our vehicles, making sure everything was running correctly. Normally we get snow a little earlier in November, so we've been expecting it any time now."

Even though the North Country is prepared for snow, residents say they got a bit too comfortable with this fall's warmer weather.

"If you look at the time of year it is, it's overdue, but we've been spoiled this year because of the nice temperatures we've had this fall. Temperatures are supposed to get up into the 40s, tomorrow maybe even the 50s, so it'll all be gone. Get ready for the next one," said Palmer

To be ready for the winter season, Potsdam Highway Department wants to remind drivers to drive slow, drive with their head lights on and make sure their windshield wipers are in good condition.