The Pacific Northwest is not known for major snow events. In fact we’re quite well known for fuh-reaking out in the face of a few fluffy white flakes. It could be that there happens to be a large city in the Northern part of the state that didn’t even own a snow plow until that unfortunate incident in 1996 where we got a couple feet of snow… and then ice.
All we’ve heard about around here for the past week is mention of snow. At first it was supposed to be a little bit Sunday night. Then they said possibly Saturday night. Then they changed their story to heavy snow Wednesday morning changing to heavy rain by the afternoon. Then it was… Oh you get the picture.
As of last night the forecast was for 1-2 inches of snow today and a “major snow event” tomorrow. We’re currently under a Winter Storm Warning. The story goes starting around midnight tonight we’re supposed to get anywhere from 6-14″ on Wednesday and then it will rain Thursday.
It snowed off and on for a while on Monday, but nothing major. Over night last night there was MAYBE 1/2″. The phone rang at 5:42 this morning robo-calling us to tell us school was cancelled. I rolled over and asked Derek if there was any new snow. “Not really,” he said. Then both of us were awake despite turning off all 3 alarms in the house. If there wasn’t any real new snow why did they cancel school?
I got out of bed and looked outside. An indication of the road conditions is easily assessable by our neighborhood roads. If they are iced over and snowy odds are there may be icy patches out of the neighborhood. If they are clear (or slushy) the main roads are just fine. Our roads… a nice layer of yucky slush. Again? Why are schools closed? Tacoma isn’t closed (of course I think the Tacoma school district would stay open even if the buildings were on fire since their kids are already going to school up until the 4th of July).
We had to venture out this morning to find snow boots for the child. We don’t buy them until it looks like snow might actually show up. Rain boots, yes. However, rain boots don’t quite cut it in the snow. After all, the weather dude didn’t talk about today’s weather, he only mentioned snowmageddon that’s supposed to happen tomorrow.
Looking out my window at the moment, the sun is shining, the snow is melting and it’s been raining off and on all day. I fail to see how this could turn into snowpocalypse. What makes it worse is the cancellation of school.
I remember as a kid, getting up and being so excited for a snow day. We’d eat breakfast, get bundled up and go sledding in the slush. It was unfulfilling and depressing. By 11:00 in the morning the snow would be gone and we’d have nothing left to do. Today is just like that. We puttered around a mega shopping store because we didn’t have anything better to do. That only took an hour. Oleg put together a puzzle while I did some cleaning. Then we looked at each other and said, “well, I guess we could have lunch.” Then this afternoon he played with his toy computer and played the fishing game by himself while I watched Project Runway. After he won the fishing game he started in on science experiments. Then we dusted. Do you see a pattern here? Luckily, the neighbor girl showed up to save us. Oleg has someone to play with and I can watch stupid television programming in peace.
Here’s the worst part about all of this. I’m fairly certain school will be cancelled for tomorrow too. I’m still not sure why it was cancelled today.
Are you now going to write about “the major snow event” that actually did happen today? With pictures? 😉