The January 27th storm was a great example. Like all great adventures it was 70% planning and 30% wtf. The weather forecaster's predicted it a solid 48 hours in advance, giving everyone time to make the proper plans and get the excitement building.
Schools started cancelling classes, parking bans went into effect, grocery shelves were emptied....and then the Governor closed the highways and declared a state of emergency hours before the first flake fell.
All that was left to do, and deal with, were the unplannables.
- Just how much snow will fall? Will it be a dud, or historic, epic or catastrophic storm?
- Will the power go out? And if it goes out will you be forced to survive by wrapped up in your down sleeping bag and eating raw frozen meat?
- Will you get time off work? and if not will the trains run to get you to work? or will you get stuck in waiting for a train in the cattle yard that is North Station?
- Will the snow be light and fluffy? and if so, and if it's a blizzard, when do you shovel?
- Will the snow be snowman or snowfort snow? can you even attempt to shovel 24 inches of that? and if so what style of snowman should you build?
In Beverly, the snow didn't start until 10pm. At 2am it still didn't seem all that impressive. After
checking and seeing that the forecast was still calling for 24 inches, it seemed doubtful. At 6:00 I poured my morning coffee and settled back to watch the snow. Unimpressed by the what had already fallen, I soon realized that in the time it took to drink one cup, the snow had doubled! Without booking a flight, driving for hours or suffering any discontent at all, the adventure had begun!
