A Thank You Note to the Weathercasters

Dear St. Louis Meteorological Community: 

Thank you for the easiest commute I've had in the five months I've lived in St. Louis!  The "big time" snowfall IS arriving, but I'm already at work so this is not such a big deal.   (This writing taking place at the end of morning rush hour)

The pre-storm hype was breathtaking!  And the result was a beautiful thing.  The schools all closed in anticipation of the blizzard.  Moms and dads stayed home with their kids.  Businesses told workers to take the day off.  And those of us who actually came to work this morning had dry, smooth sailing. 



A meteorologist I knew several years ago told me what he considered to be the first commandment of TV weather forecasting:  never under-predict the snow.  His reasoning made a lot of sense.  You're damned if you do and damned if you don't, but people will be less angry if they're prepared for what doesn't come. (Or a little less of it) Call for an inch and get a foot?  They're burning you in effigy in a downtown square.  (Probably because they need the heat due to the fact they're stuck downtown)  Burning a sick day to stay home with the kids is annoying when it's not necessary, but not as bad as entire cities grinding to a halt due to what was forecast as "a dusting."

No one will have to worry about being blindsided today!  Of course the snow is getting heavier as I write this, and the afternoon rush may be another matter entirely! 

Update!  Trish just walked in and described the ride from Illinois as, "a white out on the highway!"  I never said the forecast was wrong...just a little late!