What Happened To All The Snow?

At least here in Western New York the mammoth storm we'd been hearing about kinda fizzled.  Depending on what source you were depending on the forecast said we could get anywhere from 8 to 16 inches of snow - maybe more.  And with high winds it could create some very dangerous conditions.  Well, we know what happened.  Most people were wondering all day where all the snow went.  While Chicago got hammered and Detroit got dumped on, good old Buffalo, NY escaped the brunt of the storm.  It certainly wasn't fun driving in it.  And clearing the driveway took a while, but come on - the snow capital of the world escapes the big snow storm - again?  

Dozens of school districts decided the day before to close down.  It's a lot different from when I went to school.  You'd go to bed at night and there were no big winter storm warnings or advisories.  We'd hear we might get some snow and when you'd wake up in the morning you'd look outside, see a mountain of snow, listen to the radio and wait to hear whether your school was closed.  Today many schools send out text messages, e-mails or make robo calls.

One thing that bothers me about all the high tech weather forecasting gizmos they have these days is that some meteorologists seem to take delight in scaring the hell out of you.  I've lived in Western New York all of my life.  I survived the Blizzard of '77.  But all these warnings and advisories scare me - they really do.  Everywhere you look you're reminded about what seems to be impending doom....Winter Storm Warning....it was flashing on a Thruway sign.  You see it on a crawl on your TV screen.  The grocery stores were jammed with people buying milk and bread.

It's SNOW people.  It's not the end of the world.  We live in Buffalo.  We handle it and move on.  But the big build-up really gives me anxiety.  I'd just like to give Channel 7 meteorologist Mike Randall credit for not hyping this storm.  He kept saying there is a potential for heavy snow, but there are so many variables it was very hard to predict just how much snow we would get.  While some forecasters were making it sound like Armegeddon, Mike was a voice of reason and boy was he right.  Thanks Mike!  Mike joins the Breakfast Club for a live chat every Monday thru Friday morning at 7:40.