What A Snow Job!

What A Snow Job!

The Great Blizzard of 2001 never quite materialized. Freezing rain, sleet, wind gusts and low temperatures came as promised, but only minimal snow.

As far as the hysteria, panic, alarm, and general theatre perpetrated by the local media about this ìworst storm in 30 years,î the only redeeming factor seems to be that it may have kept drivers off the roads. The combinations of low temperatures plus freezing rain, ice buildup and the dreaded ìblack iceî on the roads made for commuter nightmares. Fender benders, multiple-car crunches, spin-outs, and accidents of all sorts were the story of the day.

This reminds me of Hurricane Gloria [1], back in 1985. The local radio and TV forecasters were predicting Armageddon! NBCís local station, WNBC/Channel 4 abandoned the regular soaps and daytime fare to carry ongoing coverage of the [coming] weather system. Well, phooey on that -- it did inflict some damage on Eastern Long Island, as a Category 2 storm. ñ but it was a bust, just like this storm.

Since Friday evening the weather pundits have been warning (promising?) that the East Coast, from Washington to Maine and into Canada, would be pummeled with snow, swirling, gusting high winds, lower-than-low wind chill factors, and low temps, to boot. The snow was supposed to start sometime Sunday afternoon, continuing until late in the day Tuesday.

Well, here it is, the very early hours of Tuesday, and we barely have two inches accumulation. Slick, icy, treacherous road conditions, some wind, but not much else.

For a while this afternoon the freezing rain and sleet was so heavy it caused a cacophony of pings on the air conditioner outside one window, and right onto the panes of a few others.

And thatís the worst weíve seen thus far.

One result of the precipitation brought some problems to my local area, but that's a function of Verizon being a rotton monolith more than a snow-related factor. In these parts we have some phone poles which are here since possibly the time of Alexander Graham Bell. Whenever there's mucho precipitation, many of the phone lines go down. So one can't get a line out, and callers dialing in get the "I'm sorry, circuits are busy" message. But the service was spotty, difficult during some periods, but not a total loss.

Gee, this promised but never arrived storm...well, it is somewhat of a disappointment, actually. Yeah, sure, Iím out of school for well over 20 years at this point, but I still get a thrill over these ìSnow Daysî when school is out and all sorts of places are closed.

True to form, the mail arrived today. Neither rain nor sleet nor hail nor snow can prevent Tom our postman from showing up. And at the usual time, no less. Call it snail mail, but the USPS lives up to its motto.

The power didnít fail, there was sufficient heat all day. We had a turkey dinner, almost as though it was some celebration.

Maybe Fridayís predicted snowfall will pack some oomph. But for now, the ìworst storm in 30 yearsî has been a concept and a media sensation, but not a reality by any stretch of the imagination.