And so the Countdown Begins

I live in an area that gets very little snow.  I remember as a kid having one huge snowstorm that dumped over a foot of snow.  One time.  We may get a dusting every year or so, a measurable amount every five years.  Most often, any snow forecasted turns to rain.

If there is snow in the forecast, it becomes a NEWS EVENT.  Programs are interrupted for "special news bulletins".  Meteorologists work overtime, loosening their ties and rolling up their sleeves as a sign of their fatigue.  Grocery stores empty of bread, toilet paper and bottled water - if we lose power, at least we can still poop.  Batteries, snow shovels, and sleds fly off the shelves.  Salt?  Forget it - it's long gone.

I'm watching the news right now, and the first two stories have been about the upcoming "WINTER STORM".  All State troopers are all call for the weekend.  We are cautioned to keep a snow shovel in the car, in case we are snowed in.  I can just see me shoveling out my 15 passenger van.  The snow would be melted by then. 

How much do you think we are forecast to get tomorrow night?  3-8 inches.  In New York, it's a laughable amount.  Here, it's a sign of the apocalypse.  I'm not holding my breath - ever since I was a child, I've been disappointed by wild and crazy forecasts, only to have the snow turn to rain. 

But, just in case, we have SEVEN snow sleds in the attic.

Oh, and guess where my son is?  Camping outdoors for the weekend.

Comments

[Barb @ A Chelsea Morning]

I can see where eight inches, where you live, would be a real show stopper Carmen. Where I live, it wouldn't even slow us down. :-)

[Deputy's Wife]

Don't worry. Here in Iowa where we just had six inches of snow dumped on us, for the umpteenth time, people still make that mad dash to the grocery store. I guess you never know when the big one will come and we will be stranded for days.

If you don't get your snow, let me know. I will figure out how to Fed Ex some of it down to you. Lord knows, we have enough here. And expecting another 4 to 8 inches on Sunday.

[Paige]

Oh, I've got something like 12 inches outside my door right now. It seems to snow every single day here in Utah. I'm tired of the snow. Ugh. But I hope you get some so your kids can go outside and play in it. I can't imagine not having snow to play in in the winter.

[Amy]

We have a forecast for at least 2 inches tomorrow, and here in GA, that is BY ALL MEANS reason to rush out to the store and stock up. I hope we do get some snow, but I am like you in that I realize 99.9% of the time, the snow never makes it. Just rain, rain, rain. We're wearing our jammies inside out here, though, just in case!

[Vanessa]

I'm not sure where you live, but here in Dallas its the same way. We are forcasted to have a POSSIBLE 15-20% chance of a light snow dusting tonight. Everyone is freaking out, the store was OUT of SUGAR! I can't even begin to guess on that one...

[Liz in Seattle]

We get that in Seattle, too. Although we're fairly far north, we keep toasty warm in the winter with the jet stream. So whenever there's a flake in the air, pandemonium reigns. The news features full-time coverage with "Doctor Disaster, Weather Forecaster". I swear, one time there was a very slight chance of a dusting, and the main news hour opened with, "Well, it's not snowing in Bellevue, Bob."

Batten down those hatches...

[Mandie]

I live in GA. The countdown is on here as well. Georgians forget how to drive in rain let alone snow. The stores are probably out of bread as you mentioned. It snowed here the other day and of course did not stick. We are in amazement if the snow ever sticks. I personally don't like snow. Snow is pretty but a pain.

[Jenn]

That's so funny to me. I live in Pa and snow is not a big deal. Not a big deal that is UNLESS you have to decide to drive somewhere and get behind one of the thousands of people that believe that if it is snowing, raining, or heck the sun is shining, they must slow down to a crawl and hit their brakes over and over again.

[kalisah]

OMG it's the same way here! Although I don't recall them ever telling me to keep a SNOW SHOVEL in my car. That's pretty funny. If my FIL heard that suggestion he would TOTALLY be on the phone warning us to run out to Home Depot and PICK ONE UP NOW!!!!

[amy]

Well Carmen if it's of any comfort that same crap still plays out up here in NH as well. They pre-empt reg programmed tv with stormwatch '08. I always feel bad for the poor reporter stuck out at the toll booths with a darned ruler to measure the actual on the ground snow for the viewers.
And yes, the mad dash to the supermarket @@ It's crazy. Slow news day I guess...
Hope your kids get to get out and have fun. We're already weary of it up here having been buried in 40+ inches of snow in Dec alone. January we've seen a couple of decent amounts but we did have a 'thaw' last week that lowered most of the piles.
Enjoy your snow day mama you deserve it!

[Heather]

Is it coming down? Just over the bridge at my house, it's coming down pretty well but not sticking. My kids are holding a special prayer meeting for all who are interested...they want it to stick!

[Starr]

Carmen, I think we watch the same news channels. What cracked me up last night was the "Team Coverage." The sun was setting in a relatively cloudless sky, the snow wasn't due to arrive for at least another 24 hours in any appreciable amount, but they felt the need to deploy their Team Coverage well in advance of this so-called storm.

And now that it IS 24 hours later... there's STILL no snow. But I have plenty of toilet paper.

[rachel]

our snow keeps getting rained on and melting. I'm thrilled. My kids? not so much.

I think it is worse to have snow in the south, because there are all these people who have no clue how to drive. Very scary.

Last week we had a snowstorm here that was bad enough that the mail carrier didn't come. Funnily, the UPS guy did!

[J from Ireland]

Hey thats exactly what its like here, snow is big news, the news have pictures of people playing it in and all, sadly it mostly ends up raining, like ALL year round!

[Brandy]

We were supposed to get snow today, what did we get? Rain! My kids are so disappointed, but it's just the way it is living here in the South.

[FishyGirl]

The sad thing is, it's the same here in DC, and you'd think these people had never seen snow before. For Pete's sake, we avg. 2-3 snowfalls a year. It's just snow.

Now, those stinking ice storms? That's another thing altogether. 4-wheel drives slides just as well as 2 on black ice. Ugh.

Hope your kids got a chance to play in some snow a bit.

[angie]

Lucky you. We have our 7 inches and 8 degrees to go with.

[Kendra]

Send me SNOW!!! Although the rest of the southwest may not like it.... The forecasters here are he same-but rain drives them to "storm team coverage". that means .10 inch-yes, I said one tenth of an inch. Sheesh people, you won't melt!