It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

The weekend after Thanksgiving is traditionally the time to take down fall decorations and deck the halls with boughs of holly, twinkling lights and wreaths.And, as if on cue, Mother Nature has come through with a decoration of her own: A light blanket of snow, the first of the season and just enough to make the region postcard-pretty, began falling in the wee hours this morning.According to the National Weather Service, we can expect about 1-3 inches of snow to fall by about 4 p.m. today, with temperatures hovering just above freezing. Tonight, temperatures are expected to drop to about 21 degrees, so watch out for icy roads tonight and tomorrow morning.Tomorrow, temperatures are expected to rise to about 39 degrees, with mostly sunny skies. The rest of the week, into the weekend, is expected to bring partly sunny skies, and temperatures around 40 degrees.Although the snowfall wasn't enough to close school or even delay classes, it did make for some dicey driving during the morning commute, particularly in the higher elevations.Local communities saw some accidents as a result of snow-slicked roads, including one on Route 54 in Rush Township, in the area of the Hometown Farmer's Market a few minutes after 8 a.m. Another crash happened on Route 248 at the Palmerton exit, and a car slid into a ditch on Route 443 and Mill Road.Route 902 in Summit Hill was especially bad. At about 8:45 a.m., six school buses were unable to make the trip up the Lansford-Summit Hill hill.Also traffic was backed up in the Packerton Dip in Mahoning Township as motorists were forced to inch their way up the Mansion House Hill to and from Jim Thorpe, thanks to icy conditions.The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and municipal crews were out salting roadways to prevent ice accumulation; however, the coating of wet snow, combined with some rain, may create slush in higher elevations or in shaded areas.