Rain and snow hit the rocks on the hills of Duluth, but down by the shore, waves engulfed them.

“It's scary, it's enthusiastic, it's cool, it's intimidating—it's all rolled into one. It's Duluth. This is why we live here,” Joel Heller of Duluth said.

Strong winds made it difficult to travel on foot.

“I would never think that even like how crazy it is that—I would never think it would be like that,” Joualy Yang of Minneapolis said.

And flooding led to some roads and parking lots to close for a period of time.

“I was scared—like my car was going to stop in the middle of the puddle and then like, we’re going to have to get in the water and push it out or something,” Lucky Yang of Minneapolis said.

Along with roads and parking lots, Park Point was closed to non-residents for a period of time.

“I was down here earlier and they had police blocked off right outside here so you couldn't bring your car down and they were checking ID's to get in on to Park Point because they were closing it off because the wind and the waves were just maybe almost going over the bridge,” Heller said.

Despite poor conditions, many made their way out to see the storm for themselves.

“It's a little cold out, but just wanted to take some pictures and check out the waves,” Genna Prigge of Duluth said.

In addition to pictures, some took videos. Heller Facebook live streamed much of what he saw.

“My mom and dad are in Arizona and I’m having a good time showing them the giant waves out on the lake right now. My son is down in Carlton and he wants to see the waves too. We’re boat and wave watchers so this is all exciting,” Heller said.

According to the aerial lift bridge operator, waves were 10 to 11 feet high and wind speeds were 30 to 40 knots.

“From what I understand from the night operator, they were a little above that during the night,” Mark Nymamam said. “It didn't surprise me at all. I was surprised that we got the flooding that we did for a while in Canal Park, but it kind of comes with the territory I guess.”

And that territory will remain under a Winter Storm Watch until Monday at midnight.