MONTPELIER, Vt. -
The sound of cars sliding on the road could be heard in many parts across Vermont Monday morning.
Just as people were returning from a Thanksgiving break, snow disrupted many of their commutes.
"I was stuck for a little bit, probably 20-25 minutes," said Mike Gannon.
The snow burst weren't something the National Weather Service in South Burlington predicted.
"Up through [Sunday] we thought [Monday] was just be some light snow showers, some flurries, which wouldn't be all that much," said NWS Meteorologist Andy Nash.
Knowing that, Vermont Transportation leaders say they treated Monday as any other.
"Do you think the department was prepared for this or you guys weren't prepared?" said FOX44/ABC22.
"Because we weren't expecting it we didn't get out and put any brine in advance of the storm. This one caught us off guard a little bit," said Agency of Transportation Scott Rogers.
"It wasn't until the storm was almost on us that we could see it was a little more than just a stray flurry here and there," said Nash.
VTrans leaders say the timing also made it bad because a lot of people on the road caused it to turn to ice.
And it wasn't just problems on the road.
VTrans had issues getting the word out to people online.
"One one of the drives goes down the server bogged down and the whole thing really got slow," said Rogers.
But some drivers say this sticky situation is an all too common occurrence every year when one of the first snow showers arrives.
"Unfortunately you just get used to it," said Gannon.
If you had trouble with 511 Monday, you might be happy to hear changes are coming to the site.
VTrans leaders say they're working on a regional system, with surrounding states, to update motorists on road conditions.
That program should be ready to go by the end of 2013.
