DETROIT (WWJ) - The first snow of the season caused quite a bit of chaos on southeast Michigan roads Thursday morning.
Dozens of spinout crashes were reported throughout Metro Detroit and extending to Livingston County. Most of the crashes were in the northern and western suburbs and along I-96 and I-75.
One person was killed in a crash on I-96 near Howell. Authorities say there were three separate crashes in the area of I-96 and D-19 around 6 a.m; one driver died in a single car crash. Michigan State Police say the weather conditions of snow and ice were factors in the crash. No names have been released.
Novi police temporarily closed M-5 in both directions between I-96 and 12 Mile Road due to multiple crashes in the area and ice on the road.
On roads without crashes, the falling snow caused slick conditions that left drivers hitting the brakes. The slow commute meant countless people across the region were late for work.
Craig Bryson, with the Road Commission of Oakland County, said they didn't have trucks out initially because they thought the storm would miss the metro Detroit area.
Livingston Count Sheriff Mike Murphy says a quick dip in temperature caused most of the problems on the roads.
"When the temperatures go down when there's a little bit of moisture on the road, you've got that opportunity for black ice -- and that's exactly what we saw with a number of crashes this morning," Murphy told WWJ's Zach Clark.
State Police counted eight crashes between Novi and Lansing early in the morning.