Mother Nature, you did it! You made sure that there was enough snow to make meteorlogists - and local news crews - in the region thrilled beyond belief by dumping over 2 feet of snow in New York City - and more in outlying areas - which makes this a brand new record. Sure, Gothamist was laughing at newscasts touting the "Blizzard of 2006" as having the second highest snowfall, but when we took that crown from 1947 with 26.9", we did emit a bit of a holler. And then we ran outside and got nailed by some snowballs. Mayor Bloomberg called it a dangerous storm and even mentioned he too heard the early Sunday thunder, saying, "I thought, 'Plows don't make that noise.'" That other noise you heard, besides children's cheers of sledding, were children's tears over not having a snow day for Monday - school opens, kids! Anyway, who cares if two feet of snow doesn't technically count as being a blizzard?
The Sanitation Department was ready, with plows and shovelers making sure this morning's commute will be easier. For your reference, the DoS works on main streets first, then secondary and tertiary streets - tough luck to people who parked on smaller streets. All the area airports shut down, and a jet arriving from Turkey skidded off JFK's runway last night (luckily no one was injured). Mass transit seemed to be work well, though there are some delays.
How did you enjoy the snow? Gothamist loved the NY Times article about being a volunteer who measures snow fall - if we have a yardstick, can we sign up? And where will the snow go if it melts quickly? The sewers, of course. Plus, it may have been fun for some at Central Park, but one man was mugged for his $500 digital camera!
Photograph at top of Park Slope's 8th Street from chinycjo and photograph at bottom of sledders from whatisee, both on Flickr
