News Anchor Forced to Ski to Work Amid Blizzard (Video)

When most Americans were digging out their driveways, one Massachusetts news anchor decided to glide past traffic altogether.

As a monster nor’easter buried parts of the Northeast under more than two feet of snow, WCVB anchor Erika Tarantal clipped into cross-country skis and made her way to work the old-fashioned way — straight through the storm.

And she documented every step.

“Here we go!” Tarantal said in a video posted to social media Monday morning, bundled up against blinding snow and howling wind. “[These are] the lengths I will go to not move my car from the covered garage at the hotel to get to work.”

@5wcvb

Call it peak New England efficiency: when the forecast calls for snow, bring your skis. @[335571389870495] 

♬ original sound – WCVB Channel 5 Boston

The ABC affiliate anchor works for Boston-based WCVB Channel 5 and was headed to the station in Dedham, Massachusetts, as Winter Storm Hernando roared across the region.

Meteorologists at the station had warned viewers that up to 24 inches of snow could fall in parts of Massachusetts. Wind gusts were clocked at over 70 mph in some areas — equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane.

Instead of braving icy highways, Tarantal snapped her boots into ski bindings and pushed off into near-whiteout conditions.

“And they say the U.S. Postal Service goes through anything!” she joked mid-journey.

The scene looked more like a backcountry trail than a Boston suburb. Snow whipped sideways. Visibility dropped fast. At one point, Tarantal pointed into the distance and laughed: “Okay, the station is right over there. I swear!”

Moments later, she slid into the newsroom parking lot just as one of the station’s news vans crawled through thick drifts.

“Made it to the newsroom!” she cheered.

Her snowy commute came as millions across the Northeast hunkered down under blizzard warnings. The National Weather Service reported “blizzard conditions” in multiple states, meaning sustained winds or frequent gusts over 35 mph combined with falling or blowing snow that reduced visibility to a quarter mile or less for at least three hours.

Winter Storm Hernando is classified as a nor’easter — a powerful coastal storm that typically forms along the East Coast and pulls cold air down from the north while spinning moisture off the Atlantic Ocean. These storms are most common between September and April and can paralyze major metro areas from Washington, D.C., to Boston.

By Monday afternoon, some communities had already surpassed two feet of snowfall. Flights were delayed or canceled across major airports. Governors in several states declared emergencies as plows struggled to keep up.

In Montauk, New York, FOX Weather storm specialist Mike Seidel delivered live reports while trudging through snowdrifts that reached his hips.

“It’s one for the record books, and we’ve got a ways to go,” Seidel said during the broadcast, referencing the storm’s historic intensity.

The blizzard is a reminder of how quickly winter weather can shut down the Northeast — and how resilient residents have to be to keep life moving.

For Tarantal, that meant swapping wheels for skis.

While highways sat nearly empty and snowplows battled relentless wind, one anchor chose to glide into work — proving that in New England, even a hurricane-force blizzard won’t stop the news.