EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — This storm hit at a bad time when many are traveling for the holidays, making the roads in NEPA busier than usual.
2822 News Reporter Gianna Galli was out in those conditions Friday with what parts of Luzerne County looked like.
In Wilkes-Barre, conditions are calm and roads are cleared, but a little more down south in Sugarloaf Township, travel has been a challenge for most of the day.
Seeing snow, slick roads, and temperatures in the 20s was quite a shock for Massachusets resident Don Bisbano, who just spent the last few days at Disney World in Florida.
"I didn't know it was going to snow here. All of a sudden, it started snowing in Maryland and I was like, 'Oh God,'" Bisbano explained.
Maryland was the second stop of his 20-plus hour trip back home to Massachusetts for the holidays.
An unscheduled pit stop, the Hampton Inn in Sugarloaf Township was his stay for the night on Friday.
"I was driving up here and I was like okay I'm going to drive back down someday in January again and then I'm not driving back up," Bisbano added.
PennDOT issues speed restrictions as snow falls in NEPA
Thousands like Bisbano are just trying to get where they need to go for this holiday season, but coming through a winter-style storm in NEPA has made the trip challenging.
"And the last hour was a long hour," said Diji Tucker from South Carolina.
Diji Tucker, his wife, and dog Lilly are also getting a room for the night on their way to New England to visit family for Christmas.
"Traveling has been great until we got to Harrisburg and it was snowing just like this," Tucker said.
They started their travels at 9:00 a.m. Friday morning and arrived at the inn around 7:00 p.m.
Their journey to their daughter's home still has a ways to go.
"Once we get to her house we aren't going anywhere," Tucker continued.
PennDOT is urging drivers to drive safe, sober, and slow down.
Their crews are out working to take care of the roads, brining, salting, and monitoring.
Take it from Tucker, who knows he's got a long day of travel ahead.
He's confident PennDOT's got the roads covered.
"Y'all are so good about getting plows and sand and salt, and all of that. We have none of that," Tucker added.
PennDOT also has restrictions and reduced speed limits on Interstates 80, 81, 84, and 380.
