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What snow?

E-mail|Link|Comments () February 10, 2010 07:18 PM

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

The snowplows were ready to roll, the kids were home from school, state workers had gone home -- and the question just had to be asked this afternoon -- Where's the snow?

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Shortly after 4:30 p.m., it was lightly flurrying in Boston's Dorchester section, with no snow accumulation on the ground. It had alternately drizzled and flurried earlier.

The National Weather Service in the midafternoon downgraded the snowfall amounts expected with today's storm, calling for 3 to 4 inches north of Boston and about 4 to 6 inches south of the city, saying that warmer-than-expected air turned the precipitation into rain, rather than snow.

In the Boston area this afternoon, it all seemed anticlimactic after the buildup in the media. The official predictions had only called for, at the most, a foot of snow, in some areas of the state, something that residents tend to expect once or twice a winter. But the warnings had gained an extra frisson of dread after the huge "Snowmageddon" that hit Washington over the weekend, with a coda today in the capital and in New York.

One reader posted on boston.com a report from Downtown Crossing at 1:40 p.m. "Bupkes. Misting and nothing sticking, not even a dusting. Milk and bread still plentiful. No panic. Serenity reigns supreme."

Another reader posted from Acton, "I rented a tow truck to remove snow in the neighborhood -- I have to file a case against all those who predicted it is going to snow heavy this afternoon -- I am coming to get you -- Where's the snow?"

A reader from Bedford issued a cry for help: "wow, help, I am stuck in a virtual snowbank, with 30 inches of virtual snow down my back - woops, maybe I am looking at the pictures of DC on my TV.......... Good thing I panicked yesterday and bought 500 gallons of milk and 3,200 lbs of bread."

By 3:43 p.m., a reader from Lynn also quipped about the storm, "This is getting bad. There is now a small, almost fully-formed puddle at the end of my driveway. I may need to pick up my Pomeranian to cross the street."