LEWISTON — The driver of a car that flipped on Cotton Road at about 10 p.m. Thursday was briefly trapped but managed to escape without serious injury.

In Auburn, on Minot Avenue, a car slid into a pole, bringing down power lines and sending police scrambling.

They appeared to be standard traffic accidents but with one notable distinction: Police said the wrecks appeared to be related to snow that fell for two hours Thursday night.

The snow didn't amount to much. It started at about 8 p.m. and was over by 10. It was a dusting, but in Androscoggin and surrounding counties, it was enough to make the roads slick and cause a handful of crashes, a preview of things to come as winter bears down.

In Auburn, the driver who slid into a pole escaped without serious injury, but police had to call for barricades to block off a section of Minot Avenue where wires were down.

In Lewiston, police and rescue crews went to the area of 105 Cotton Road for the car that had rolled onto its side. The driver was stuck inside his Honda but wasn't hurt, police said. Crews had that crash scene under control at about 10:15 p.m. when another car was reported off nearby Ferry Road and on its roof. More officers, medics and tow truck drivers were sent to the area, but no crash was found.

At about 10:30 p.m., police were sent to Litchfield Road, a quarter mile from Route 126, where a car was said to be off the road, up against the tree with its tires still spinning.

Elsewhere, across Oxford and Androscoggin counties, emergency dispatchers repeatedly advised deputies that the roads were slick and that they should proceed with care while responding to calls.

By 10:30 p.m., there was just enough snow to coat the ground but it was no longer falling. No more was expected overnight, although flurries are in the forecast for the weekend.

Back in Lewiston, another sign of things to come: Police Lt. David St. Pierre said just minutes after the snow began to fall, he got his first call of the season from a local man wondering if there was a parking ban in effect. As it turns out, there was not.