Thursday, February 5, 2004

Snow Day!!!

Big snow forecast today for the St. Louis area--maybe the biggest of the year. Most of the local TV mets were hyping it up. They did the traditional field shots of the salt piles, grocery lines, school procedures. Everything was set. I called all our clients with the update by 10 pm. Three to six inches by 8am. Then sleet (1/2 inch). Then freezing rain and rain. The kids had stayed up late and not done their homework anticipating a snow day. In fact, I told them I had "cancelled" school.

So why the big lead in? You guessed it. It was a complete bust. The official snowfall at the airport was 0.4 inches (only off by an order of magnitude). Sometimes being a meteorologist is a very humbling experience.

Luckily, the lovely children still had a snow day. It warmed my heart when I got home this afternoon to see that they had been playing Monopoly all day. They were playing together nicely and having a good time. Every parents dream come true.