Travelers brace the morning snow in Westmoreland County
DONEGAL, Pa. (KDKA) -- They call it the gateway to the Laurel Highlands -- but Friday, it was the gateway to an early taste of winter.
"I slid down my driveway this morning – wasn't quite ready for it," Dale May of Donegal said.
"It's always a surprise when you get the first blizzard of the year," Michael Reid, who's traveling from Michigan to the Philadelphia suburbs, said.
Reid is traveling from Michigan.
"I've been through this," he said.
This storm – snuck up on him though.
"[I] woke up to this… and uh, now driving a snowmobile," Reid said.
On a day like Friday, the convenience store or gas station kind of becomes the congregation spot.
"[I'm getting] something MTO and a drink – because I just got done with work," Kelly Leazier of Ligonier said.
That's why Ethan Golden was at the Sheetz before work today.
"I'm going up to seven springs," he said. "We're gonna go roof houses for a little bit… see how far we get us here…"
We watched as the blacktop became a white snow blanket in parts.
"It was bare this morning, and the last hour – it got ugly," May said.
Because of the other ugliness, the people here are preaching caution.
"Just go slow… don't be tailgating anybody," Golden said.
Well -- Michael Reid just wishes all of it can stop.
"We're missing the sun," he said.