FOX 21 News, KQDS-DT

DULUTH - Many Northlanders woke up to fairly dangerous conditions Friday morning.

Rain, ice and fog all made for a scary commute and even the closure of many local schools.

When January weather takes over the roads and forces schools to close, snow is usually to blame.

However, the culprit on Friday was rain.

"It's a little chilly, it's a little nasty, sticky, but you have to deal with it I guess," Joe Moya from Duluth said.

A night full of rain eventually turned to ice when temperatures dropped below freezing around 3 a.m.

"At that point we brought in our crews and started treating the roads," Kelly Fleissner from Duluth Public Works said. "We've continued to do that throughout the day today."

Roads were quickly covered in salt and sand, but the icy conditions forced many schools to close in Duluth, Superior and on the Iron Range.

However, sidewalks and parking lots were some of the most dangerous areas as city crews dropped down salt to help keep them safe.

"They don't get treated that often and they didn't warm up as much as our streets had," Fleissner said. "So they've really frozen up and are absolutely treacherous in many places."

Up the hill in Duluth, some driveways looked more like skating rinks.

But closer to the lake, some found a way to soak it all in.

"I'm trying to enjoy this as long as I can until it get ridiculous out here," Ty Osborne from Duluth said.

More dangerous conditions could be just around the corner.

City crews were gearing up for Saturday, which could have temperatures hitting the single digits and a dusting of snow should be added on top.

Roads have had enough TLC to hopefully keep them safe, but not every spot is so lucky.

"All those areas that have slush right now or standing water on them are going to refreeze and they're going to freeze hard," Fleissner said. "We're going to have very slippery conditions again that we'll need to be cautious of."