ATLANTA -- Many residents and school children in North Georgia and metro Atlanta scored a snow day Thursday after an overnight storm dumped several inches of frozen precipitation on the state.

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Many schools shut down after the weather system moved through, leaving the first measurable snowfall of the year in its wake. Severe Weather Team 2 meteorologist David Chandley said some North Georgia counties had between 4 and 5 inches of snow, compared to between 1 and 3 in metro Atlanta. Most counties south of Atlanta saw less than an inch.

There were downsides to the winter wonderland.

A woman was killed and a second passenger critically injured in DeKalb County Thursday when their car skidded off of Buford Highway around 6 a.m. before plunging 70 feet into Peachtree Creek, an accident that appeared to be weather related.

"There was ice and slush all over the road and I think that's what it was," said eyewitness Billy Wright, who saw the incident while he was waiting for a bus.

Authorities said the victims, whose identities were pending, had to be removed from the submerged car with the jaws of life. The man and woman were in the partially submerged Nissan Altima for at least an hour. Both were rushed for treatment to a metro area hospital, where the woman later died.

A spokeswoman for Georgia Power said at least 23,000 customers lost power in the eastern part of the metro Atlanta area after the winter weather system, which was accompanied by high winds, lightning and thunder, moved through the area. As of 6 a.m., at least 17,000 customers still had no power, said spokeswoman Lynn Wallace. She said the utility hoped to restore power to half of those customers by 8 a.m., with the remaining customers restored by noon.

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"Wind has been biggest culprit for us," she said. "Now crews are dealing with really treacherous road conditions ... which has very much slowed their progress."

Wind was cited as the primary factor behind several large trees that were felled in metro Atlanta by the storm. Anyone with an outage or who saw a downed utility line was asked to 888-891-0938.

The winter weather advisory that was issued by the National Weather Service for the metro area was allowed to expire although advisories remained in effect through the early evening for some northeast Georgia counties. For a complete list of warnings, click here.

Chandley said midday Thursday that more precipitation, albeit very light, is expected for the metro area throughout the day although areas in northeast Georgia will likely log the largest accumulations.

"It's an ugly weather picture for us," he said. "And it will be that way through this afternoon anad this evening."

Chandley said temperatures will be slow to rise and probably will not make it past the mid-30s. Lows are expected Thursday night to dip below the freezing mark, he said.

The snowfall prompted several school districts, including Atlanta, Cobb, DeKalb and Gwinnett, to suspend classes for the day. For a complete list of school closings, click here.

The weather snarled the morning rush hour commute.

Mark McKinnon, a spokesman for the Georgia Department of Transportation said icy spots were reported in Hall and other counties. He said the agency had dispatched its trucks to spread salt and gavel on the the streets.

During the early morning hours, motorists were urged to slow down and to avoid driving if possible. Side streets were especially treacherous during the predawn hours.

Still, several pre-dawn accidents were reported long before the crush of motorists hit the roadway.

Authorities closed the northbound lanes of Interstate 85 at Hamilton Mill Road after an accident involving a tractor-trailer. It was not immediately clear if any injuries were reported. The back-up stretched nearly four hours because many big trucks were unable to make it up a particularly slippery stretch of the interstate near the Gwinnett-Jackson county line.

Many metro police departments told officers not to respond to minor fender benders if injuries were not involved because the officers were busy responding to other distress calls. The state DOT reported numerous trouble spots, including U.S. 27 in Carroll County, Ga. 54 in Troup County and Ga. 5 in Douglas County. In Haralson County, the DOT reported snow and ice on all roadways.

State DOT employees began work at 3 a.m. -- as the snow began falling -- to clean up the roads, said Karlene Barron.

It has been at least two years since the DOT has had a storm this large to deal with, Barron said. The department was bracing for another possible storm expected Thursday afternoon, she added.

Many air carriers at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, including Delta Air Lines, cancelled many of its morning flights amid reports of delays of up to an hour. Passengers were urged to check with their carries to determine the status of their flight.

MARTA buses were delayed for up to an hour during the morning rush as drivers attempted to travel their routes.

Those who had the day off said they would enjoy what they had.

A few students on a nearly deserted University of Georgia campus where classes were canceled were attempting to make snowmen. A group of freshmen boys said they woke up early to sled.

Danny Moore, 18, from Augusta, said was more than happy to miss a day of classes -- he had three tests scheduled for Thursday.

"You can't waste a snow day," he said.

wsbtv.com Staff Writer Alfred Charles, Channel 2 Action News reporters Alan Wang, Ross Cavitt and Richard Elliot and Mark Arum in the Triple Team Traffic Center contributed to this report.