On the eve of Winter Storm Jonas dumping record amounts of snow on New York City in 2016, Sean Mahon drove into the city with two of his friends to snap some photographs in Times Square.

"When we got there, it was deserted," the amateur photographer told weather.com. "When you first see it, your initial instinct is, ‘that’s pretty cool.’ But when you stop to think about it, there’s probably a reason it’s deserted."

His intention was to capture images of the snow falling in Times Square and a few other places throughout the city before heading back home to New Jersey. But once they arrived in Times Square for the snow, conditions quickly deteriorated and caused them to head home after only 15 minutes. In that brief period of time, Mahon managed to take this photo of his girlfriend, Alana, before retreating for safety.

"We started throwing snowballs and stuff and just having fun," Mahon said. "I took a handful of photos, maybe only 10 tops. It was blistering cold out and we were like, ‘let’s get out of here.’ That was the point of the night, when the fun dies down and you realize, this may not be the easiest to get home." 

Mahon, Alana and their friend Sergio drove into the city late in the evening on Friday, Jan. 22, 2016. Coming from New Jersey, they drove through parts of the storm, but had past it on their way to the Lincoln Tunnel and Manhattan. In just a matter of hours, the snow had made its way into the city and began dusting the ground. What started out as a scene from a snowglobe, quickly turned into a race to make it home before things got too bad. 

What would normally be only about an hour long drive home took three or four—and caused Mahon's mother to send panicked text messages. "On the way home, we were the only car in the tunnel and there were maybe two other cars on the Turnpike," Mahon said. "Then after that, we were the only car on the road the whole way home. We were the only car on the road, it was really dark, nothing was plowed."

Stressful driving scenario aside, Mahon doesn't regret his night trip to capture this image. "When you’re alone you can appreciate the magnitude of the buildings, how light it is how open it really is," he said of the visiting the city and Times Square in these conditions. "There’s a beauty to it that you can’t see when the streets are packed when you see a million faces and a million ads."

For more of of Mahon's photography, follow him on Instagram @angry.johnny.