Maryland residents enjoy the first snow day of the year as officials work to clear roads

ELLICOTT CITY -- Maryland families took advantage of the first major snow day of the season by heading to their favorite hill with sleds in hand, or loading up on the perfect snowballs.

The hill outside of Hope Assembly of God on Frederick Road in Ellicott City was a go-to spot for many families on Monday, including the Lam family. 

Sophia Lam, 10, went up and down the hill for hours. 

"My favorite part about sledding is when you go fast. It's fun when you go fast because it feels like a rollercoaster," she said. 

In a time when snow days can be hard to come by, everyone on the hill told WJZ when one comes that you enjoy every second. 

"It's just awesome to have these little moments. If I can record it and take pictures -- to have [my daughter] look back on it down the years -- it's just moments that you cherish forever," said Lillia Hsu. 

Edward Lam, Sophia's dad, said it's important that his kids act like kids whenever the snow falls. 

"Without the snow, it's hard sometimes for them to be outside and run around and play, except when we take them to the park or something," he said. "This is one of the few times we actually get to go outside, enjoy being kids, and just play." 

Cleaning up in Howard County 

The snow cleanup started early Monday morning in Howard County. Old Ellicott City sidewalks and roads got cleared, with all county roads starting to get treated around 9 p.m. Sunday. 

A snow emergency plan is in effect for the county, which enacts parking restrictions on snow emergency routes -- which includes Main Street in Old Ellicott City. 

The county's goal is to have all county roads cleared within 12 to 18 hours after the storm ends. Until then, everyone is advised to be very careful getting around. 

Annapolis residents take advantage of snowfall

 Annapolis residents stepped outside on Monday to snowboard and sled after 6 to 7 inches of snow fell.

Tom Sells took his two children to sled at the statehouse.

"We like to come here. It's hard to beat the backdrop!," Sells said. "I think it brings back a lot of memories of doing it when I was a kid, so I wanted to make sure that they enjoy sledding and coming out in the weather and having a fun snow day. I think those are some of the fondest memories we have as kids."

While residents and business owners spent the morning shoveling snow to keep the sidewalks clear, crews worked nonstop to keep the roadways safe for motorists.

"I think the snow plow guys are doing a great job," Annapolis resident Thomas Petty. "There's a lot of salt down so it's working out really well. I think everyone's working really hard to keep everything running. I think we're in good shape for now and hopefully for later too."

Annapolis officials are advising against travel in the area as road crews continue plow the streets. 

Mayor Gavin Buckley asked residents to use caution as more snow is expected Tuesday evening. 

"Well, I'm happy that the kids have got a chance to get out of the snow now, but I would say that please look out, because there will be wind gusts, potentially up to 30 mph," Buckley said. "And then we know all this snow is going to freeze."

Family snowball fight in Harford County

Harford County families made the most of the snow day, deciding if they can't avoid it or might as well enjoy it.

"It's the Payne's snow fight. I always win," said Barbara Payne. "So I'm just digging my heels in right now because my husband, he aims for every body part. It could be the head, he doesn't care."

It's game on at the Payne household in Joppa, and every man is for themselves.

"Full forward straight ahead, I'll snipe her from way back there," said Chris Payne. "I could be up close, I could be at a distance, it really doesn't matter. They're both going down."

The family has been plotting their revenge since they heard about the several inches of snow expected to be dumped in Harford County.

"I'm really happy that I'm not going to school today because I don't really want to go to Algebra 2 or talk about bones in anatomy," Lauren Payne said. "So it's pretty good."

They family said it was important that they spent the morning working hard.

"Cleaned off both of the vehicles, got the snow on the ground, then we got as much off the ground in terms of getting to the pavement," said Chris Payne.

The family said once they cleaned up, they could  spend the afternoon fighting hard.

"I'm low to the ground and I'm fast as you can imagine so I'll peak out a little bit, get him at the knees first, get him off guard, and then I'll just try to pummel a couple…see, he's trying to get me while I'm not watching," said Barbara Payne.

The family may be at war in the front yard, butthe real fight is against time.

"It's fun to have this time to do this because we haven't had a big snow in a while," Barbara Payne said. "We used to come out here with the kids when they were younger and we would do snowball fights, we would make snowmen. We can get a chance to kind of go back in time to when they were little and have this snowball fight."

Each family member will tell you they were the champion of the fight, but it seems like everyone is a winner because they plan to spend the night watching movies and eating homemade cookies.