Resce workers are on the scene after a US Airways Express plane slides off a runway at T.F. Green Airport last night in Warwick after arriving from Philadelphia. No injuries were reported as all passengers and crew members were evacuated safely. Providence Journal photo / Connie Grosch

WARWICK — An airplane slid off a T.F. Green Airport runway yesterday, bringing incoming and outgoing flights to a halt on a day that saw 5.6 inches of snow fall at the airport.

A US Airways Express flight, carrying 31 passengers and 3 crew members from Philadelphia, slid off the runway after landing shortly before 5 p.m., according to Barb Jones, spokeswoman for Air Wisconsin, a regional carrier for US Airways.

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No injuries were reported by those aboard Flight 3758, Jones said. She said she assumed the incident was related to the weather, but she said she did not know for sure and had no further information about what happened. She described the plane as a 50-seat CRJ200, a twin-engine jet manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace, a Canadian company.

After the incident, the airport closed both runways for about 2½ hours, airport spokeswoman Patti Goldstein said. One runway was reopened at about 7:30 p.m., so flights were able to resume then, she said.

“We can handle a good deal” with one runway open, Goldstein said. “But if the winds change [today], it might curtail operations. We encourage people to check with their carriers [this] morning.”

Goldstein said the US Airways plane will remain where it is and that the runway will remain closed until officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board complete their investigations. Goldstein said she had no information about the cause of the mishap.

Bert Marvin was aboard a Southwest Airlines flight that was coming in for a landing at Green shortly after the US Airways plane slid off the runway. Marvin, who lives in Colchester, Conn., was returning from vacation in Orlando, Fla. He said his plane had lowered its landing gear when it suddenly pulled “straight back up.”

Marvin said the pilot informed passengers that he had aborted the landing because another plane had encountered problems while landing at Green. Marvin’s plane ended up being diverted to Baltimore, where he was waiting last night for a flight to Providence.

Battalion Chief Robert Letourneau said the Warwick Fire Department assisted a crash rescue crew at the airport, helping to get the passengers off the plane and into buses that took them to the airport terminal. He said rescue vehicles were on the scene, but no injuries were reported.

Before the plane went off the runway, it had been an uneventful day for Warwick police despite the weather. Capt. Thomas Snow reported seven accidents but none that were serious. He said three involved “snowplows nicking cars.”

“We didn’t have a bad day,” Snow said.

Certainly, it was a better day than last week’s Gridlock Thursday, when a snowstorm snarled traffic in Providence and cities across southern New England. Commuters inched along highways for hours and some Providence schoolchildren didn’t get home until late Thursday night, prompting howls of outrage.

Yesterday, the wind howled, gusting up to 26 mph as 5.6 inches of snow fell at the airport, National Weather Service meteorologist William T. Babcock said. The record for snowfall at the airport on that date was the 8.2 inches that fell in 1989, he said.

Snowfall totals varied widely across the state, with trained local residents reporting 2 inches in Charlestown, 2.5 inches in Middletown, 9.5 inches in Cumberland and 10.5 inches in North Smithfield, Babcock said.

But with school out, workplaces closed and many people huddled around the television set to watch the Patriots beat the Jets, the result was much different than Thursday’s chaos.

State Department of Transportation Director Jerome F. Williams said yesterday’s clean-up “went very well.” When snow began falling heavily throughout the state at around 3 a.m. yesterday, DOT crews had been out since 11 p.m. Saturday "pre-treating" the highways with sand and salt, he said.

Yesterday’s weather differed in a number of ways from the Thursday storm; It started as snow, then went to freezing rain, then rain, Williams said. It also struck in the middle of the night and on the weekend, when few cars were on the roads.

Throughout the day, crews were widening roadways and clearing catch basins to reduce the amount of water on the roads before today’s expected freeze. “We’ll treat where we need to treat,” he said.

Despite the DOT’s efforts, Rhode Island State Police had responded to 52 accidents on state roads and highways as of 3 p.m. There were no apparent serious injuries, said State Police Lt. Steve Lefebvre. There were two separate accidents in which a car rolled over, but the occupants of those cars did not require medical treatment, he said.

The state police responded to about 85 "roadside assists," helping motorists who had skidded and gotten stuck. Most got in trouble by running into snow banks or a center median, or were going up a slippery hill, Lefebvre said.

At 3:30 p.m., he said state roads were clear, and cars were zooming along Route 146 at 50 mph, perhaps a little too fast given the water left standing on the highway because of clogged storm drains, he said.

In Massachusetts, three people were injured in a three-car accident in Fall River at about 10 yesterday morning on Route 24 southbound, according to the Massachusetts State Police. Two of the injured were in a vehicle that overturned, the police said, and the third person was the driver of another vehicle. All three were taken to a hospital. A police spokeswoman said she did not know the extent of the injuries, and had no further details.

The Massachusetts State Police barracks in Dartmouth received calls from about 25 to 30 motorists who needed help getting their vehicles back on the road after their cars became stuck in the snow. Most of the calls came between 6:30 and 10 a.m. yesterday, the police said.

Snow and slush had blocked storm drains, causing water to pool on some roads and highways. With the snow turning to rain, a huge puddle of water formed at the base of the Braga Bridge in Somerset, the Massachusetts State Police said. There were no reported traffic backups because of the water, the police said.

Williams warned that this morning’s commute could be icy in spots, and advised drivers to budget extra time for the drive, keep speeds down and leave plenty of space between their car and the cars ahead of them.

Babcock said today’s high temperature will be 27 degrees and the low will be 15 degrees. At 7 this morning, the temperature will be about 19 or 20 degrees, he said. The day will be sunny and blustery, with gusts of up to 45 to 50 mph.

Any slush that hasn’t already frozen will no doubt freeze this morning, Babcock said. “I expect to see a lot more ice,” he said. “The major roads seem clear, but any wet spots overnight are going to freeze.”

For motorists, that means one thing: Be careful.

“It’s winter in New England,” Babock said. “We sometimes tend to forget that. Part of winter weather driving is being aware of wet spots and knowing they could freeze into ice.”

Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline issued a statement, saying about 80 plows and sanders worked yesterday to clear snow from the city’s 370 miles of roadway. “Now that the precipitation has ended, the focus is on re-treating roads to prevent them from icing over as temperatures dip below freezing, which could create icy conditions for the morning commute,” he said.

Providence school officials will decide by early this morning whether to delay the opening of school, and parents should listen to local broadcasts for the latest updates, Cicilline said.

—With reports by Mark Arsenault and Timothy C. Barmann

efitzpat@projo.com