A dry, thin layer of snow blanketed the Tri-State Thursday morning as temperatures dropped to the lowest seen this year.

Tom Mazza, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Charleston, W.Va., said that the area was hit with a large, cold air mass.

As of 8:30 a.m., the temperature was 9 degrees and was expected to remain in the teens throughout the day.

"Thursday will likely be the coldest day of the winter so far, if not the whole winter," he said. "The Lawrence County area received about an inch or two of snow. Because the system set up in bands, it really varied across the Tri-State."

Mazza said a warming trend will begin on Friday and continue into next week with temperatures rising by about five degrees daily. The forecast predicts that this area may see snow flurries on Sunday, but no accumulation is expected.

All schools in Lawrence County were closed today as the roads remained slick.

Bill Patrick, transportation manager for the Ohio Department of Transportation's Ironton garage, said the roads are in worse condition than they had hoped because the garage ran out of liquid calcium.

Patrick said the shortage was because a storage tank needs repaired. A crew is coming from Chilicothe today to repair it, but he is not sure if the garage will receive more calcium today or not.

"We are going to have problems all day," he said. "But we will keep it plowed off and treated with salt as we can."

ODOT has had 11 crews out since 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, and will operate 13 today to battle the cold temperatures.

"According to the news, it is the coldest it has been since 1994," he said. "Once it gets that cold, the salt does not do much good."

Regardless, area law enforcement agencies reported that things have been quiet overnight.

A single car accident occurred at approximately 8:30 this morning on State Route 93, but did not appear serious, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol's Ironton Post.

The Ironton Police Department reported no automobile accidents or problems.