A brief morning snowstorm canceled schools across the Triangle, caused dozens of wrecks and contributed to a fatal car crash in Nash County.

The National Weather Service estimates most of the region got a half inch or less of snow. And because the ground is relatively warm, most of the snow has begun to melt.

The snow and sleet turned to freezing rain this morning. A light glaze of ice is possible, particularly on elevated surfaces such as trees, power lines and cars.

The weather service had a winter weather advisory in place for central North Carolina until noon, when the freezing rain was to have turned to rain. By noon, most of the rain had stopped.

Snow blustered into the Triangle around 6 a.m., just late enough to cause confusion and chaos in the schools and the roads. Both the Durham and Wake county school systems did not cancel classes until kids had started boarding school buses. Other school systems, including Orange, Chatham and Johnston counties, held classes as usual.

Accidents snarled traffic throughout the region, even though highway crews had pre-treated major streets and bridges with salt and sand.

A man driving on U.S. 264 in Nash County was killed about 8 a.m. when he lost control of his pickup and struck a tree, according to the state Highway Patrol. Jose Guijarro, 50, of Goldsboro was driving westbound near N.C. 231 when the accident occurred. Troopers think Guijarro was driving too fast for the roadway conditions.

Between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m., troopers responded to about 215 calls in the Triangle area, most for minor collisions, according to Lt. Everett Clendenin of the Highway Patrol. That compares to about 35 calls on a normal day in the Triangle, Everett said.