Where's My Ten Inches?

Yesterday morning started with forecasts of 3"-7" of snow for today, possibly changing to rain or sleet later. In other words, nothing too severe.

But then beginning around noon--and through the rest of the day--the predictions turned positively ominous. The storm was now to swing further out into the ocean, thus picking up more moisture while at the same time allowing more cold air into the region. The National Weather Service went as to issue something called a "heavy snow warning." Up to ten inches were now being called for, starting overnight between midnight and 1:00 A.M. By the rush hour this morning we would have two or three inches on the ground, and the heavy stuff would kick in around nine. The winds would pick up, and drifting snow would quickly make roads virtually impassable. Snowfall rates would exceed an inch an hour, polar bears would be roaming neighborhood streets, and herds of wooly mammoths would stampede down Pennsylvania Avenue, crushing any pedestrians foolish enough to wander outside.

In anticipation of the coming ice age every school system in the DC area closed for today, the federal government gave most of its employees unscheduled leave, and hundreds of salt trucks were deployed to sit on the sides of the roads.

So what happened? Well, as of about 9:00 A.M.: Absolutely nothing. Squat. Nada. No snow. Not a single God blessed flake has fallen. The weather forecasters are still bravely calling for three to six inches later today, but they have once again begun hedging their bets by saying that it may switch to rain. So they're at least still hanging tough in calling for some snow. But none of them have apologized or even admitted that a mistake may have perhaps possibly been made yesterday when they sent the general populace into a state of near panic.

But the worst part of this is that I had believed them. I even went as far as to abandon my car on a highway ramp yesterday afternoon. Granted, the roads were perfectly dry at the time, but it's good to be prudent. After all, once it does begin to snow, all the good spots are quickly taken.