by Samantha Hurst
The first snowfall of 2011 worked hard over the wee hours of Monday morning to beat out the total accumulation during the Christmas holidays, with many residents seeing 4-5 inches by 8 a.m.

In the higher elevations of Saluda, residents saw about 6 inches of snow by mid-morning Jan. 10, causing dicey road conditions, according to officials at the Tryon police department.
Blake Arledge, who works in communications for the Tryon Fire Department, cautions people from braving the roads.
“It’s been very quiet in town, but they’re calling for sleet and rain overnight and that means these roads will get treacherous,” Arledge said. “Unless people absolutely have to get out, they shouldn’t.”Polk County had 669 power outages as of Monday morning, most of which were in the Green Creek area. There were also 22 outages in Spartanburg County and 18 in Greenville County, according to Duke Energy.
Most businesses kept doors locked and lights off except for a select few such as grocery and hardware stores and restaurants like Waffle House.
All county offices and schools closed Monday because of the weather. Town and county meetings such as the Saluda Town Council, Polk County Board of Commissioners and Polk County Board of Education meetings were also canceled.
The Polk County Board of Commissioners will instead meet at 3 p.m. Monday, Jan. 24 following the county’s planned all-day retreat.