Snow, Wind Gusts Causing Traffic Delays On Eastern Shore
OCEAN CITY, Md. (WJZ) -- A nor'easter slammed the Eastern Shore. It started snowing in Ocean City last night and continued overnight all through the morning.
A lot of snow fell out in Ocean City. The strong winds and heavy snow brought white-out conditions and made driving conditions unsafe.
"This is neat. We don't see it like this. So, this is definitely something different." said Thomas Seato of Perryville, adding he was surprised to see so much snow at the beach.
Ocean City now looks more like a snow globe than a beach town.
People from our area took the trip out to the Eastern Shore to see the snow.
"We're crazy. We love the snow. It's the beach. We're two hours away. Why not, right," Seato said.
Just as WJZ's First Alert meteorologists predicted, the nor'easter brought heavy snowfall to Ocean City. It blanketed the boardwalk and covered the roads.
Conditions were slick and unsafe.
The area was under a blizzard warning and a state of emergency for much of Saturday.
"Every few years we do get something that comes in like this and it's been a number of years and I guess it was our turn again," said Joseph Theobald, Ocean City's emergency services director.
Theobald spoke with WJZ's morning show earlier Saturday.
"Overnight we had no issues to report. Public safety was actually quieter than normal. People stayed off the roads. That was a good thing," he said.
They planned for this storm days in advance and as soon as the snow started to fall, plows were out to clean up, Theobald said.
Ocean City visitors said they felt the roads were safe enough for them to go home.
"We have a four-wheel-drive truck. We're good to go. Heated seats, we're set," Seato said.
Ocean City's emergency services said they will be cleaning up all the way through Sunday to make sure things are ready for Monday. They ask drivers to be patient and stay inside until it's safe.