Motley Moose – Archive

(Also posted to DailyKos)

OH MY GOD. IT’S THE BLIZZARD OF THE CENTURY. IT’LL  BE THE WORST THING TO HAVE EVER HAPPENED IN THE HISTORY OF RECORDED HISTORY. HOLY MOTHER OF JESUS RUN FOR YOUR LIVES. THE WHITE DEATH IS COMING. LOOK AT THIS MODEL. THE MODEL SAYS A BAZILLION INCHES OF SNOW. OH MY GODDDDDD. LIKE AND SHARE TO SPREAD THE WORD.

There. Now you’ve seen all the hype you need to see about the impending nor’easter in New England. Now here are some facts.

• The storm’s name is not “Nemo.” Winter storms are not named. This is a ratings ploy by The Weather Channel and nothing else.
• Don’t follow the weather weenie pages on Facebook. They’ll drive you insane. I’m not talking about the pages run by respectable people like Brad Panovich or James Spann (or me, hint hint), but the “Mid-County Tri-Hat Super Weather Forecast 2000” pages that implore you to LIKE AND SHARE AND REC THIS UP!!!!!!!! on every post. They’re not in it to help you. They’re in it for the popularity. If they can whip people up into a frenzy and share their posts, they get more clicks, more likes, and more “popularity.” They’re in it for them, not you.
• Stop following every twist and turn of the weather model. Some models are more accurate than others. The ECMWF, GFS, and NAM models are usually the best, but the high-resolution models aren’t bad either. The models will change over the next day as we get closer to the event.
• Don’t focus on the exact snow totals. While there is a big difference between 4 inches of snow and 30 inches of snow, you start splitting hairs when you freak out over whether or not you’re going to get 12 inches of snow or 20. There’s a point at which it stops mattering how much falls because it’s just going to screw up travel anyway.
• That being said, a lot of snow will fall. There will probably be some snowfall records. One to two feet of snow are likely in the Boston region. Winds will drop visibilities low enough to qualify for blizzard conditions. It will snarl travel in the area starting on Friday and lasting through the weekend.

It’s not like this is the first time you’ve seen snow. Don’t act like an idiot. Don’t freak out. It’s not like you’re under the gun of a major tornado outbreak. It’s a slow, steady snow that makes everything look pretty. Don’t drive if you don’t have to. If you have to go out, go slow and try to avoid idiots. Don’t overexert yourself shoveling the stuff. Don’t fire up your grill and cook brats in your damn living room like someone always tries to do.

It’s just snow. People will probably get hurt or killed driving out in it, but the same thing happens on a sunny day. It’s not the end of the world. It’s just snow. Don’t freak out over it.