The surprise blast of winter weather that began late Thursday morning and slicked roads, downed trees and blacked out power threatens to continue over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

Temperatures are expected to be in the high 30s on Saturday and about 40 degrees on Sunday, with rain and snow.The state Department of Transportation advises drivers to allow plenty of time to get to their destinations, and drive with extra caution. PennDOT reminds motorists to log on to 511pa.com or call 511 from any phone before heading out to check traffic conditions.Once we started getting a little snow on the ground and the ground got cold, there were multiple vehicle accidents throughout the county," said Carbon County Emergency Management Coordinator Mark Nalesnik.County officials were prepared for the icy blast.We are in constant communication with the National Weather Service," Nalesnik said. We were on a conference call yesterday about this storm."The winter preview dropped anywhere from 1-4 inches of snow on the area. The heavy, wet snow that fell Thursday into Friday coated roads in some of the higher elevations and weighed down tree limbs and wires.A tree that fell down at Fritz Valley and Church Hill Roads in Mahoning Township cut power and closed Church Hill Road for several hours. As of Friday morning, 702 PPL customers in Monroe County, mostly in Pocono and Chestnuthill townships, remained out of service. In Schuylkill County, 63 customers, mostly in East Union Township, still had no power.The National Weather Service is expecting rain tonight, rain and snow on Saturday, with the snow accumulating to about a half-inch, rain and snow Saturday night, changing to snow at about 2 a.m. Sunday. Accumulations of less than a half-inch are expected. Sunday's forecast is for more of the rain/snow mixture.The rain is expected to taper off Sunday night, and on Monday - just in time for the start of the workweek - skies are expected to be sunny and the temperature a mild 50 degrees.