Another Over-Hyped Storm?

Dr. Jeff Masters of WeatherUnderground said…”it would be unfair to call this storm a bust.” And I agree.  However, did you see how the media described the storm ?  “Monster storm, Ferocious storm,  Bomb-bo-Genesis.  It has been a big Nor’easter, but I think we live in a time of instant communication where the motto is “ never let the facts get in the way of a good story”.    Even the Mayor of New York went on-air to admit “thankfully we didn’t get as much as predicted.”   Hey, I worked 5 Winters in Dayton, Ohio and can tell you the hardest thing to forecast is the rain / snow line.  Be off by only 20 miles and you can look like a fool as the 1-2 feet of snow you predicted came down mainly as rain.  That’s what happened today from Washington, D.C. to Philly to New York to Boston.  All of the major coastal cities received some snow, but not the 1-2 feet that was expected.  My only complaint was, once again, most forecasters did not address the uncertainty of the storm track which ended up being far closer to the coast than forecasted resulting in less snow & more rain & sleet.   All in all, the forecast 5 days out was pretty good.  People were prepared and this storm didn’t catch anyone by surprise.  The inland snow totals are in the 1-2 feet+ range as predicted.   By comparison, the March blizzard of 1888 & the March Superstorm of 1993 dumped far greater snow totals than this storm.

 

The current chill has really affected Bubba, my tomato plant.  He hasn’t shown any growth in the past 5 days and no blossoms yet.   Bozo, my satsuma tree has about 40-50 blossoms with lots of bees flying around.  Let’s see if it finally holds some fruit this year?   The next 2 nights will see 30s across the North Shore & along the Mississippi/Al/Fl Coasts but we should stay above 40 south of Lake P.     As usual, the chill typically doesn’t last long with our higher sun angle and 70s will be back by Friday.   Bundle up and enjoy as the summer heat will be here in another 7-8 weeks.  Stay tuned!