Snowpocalypse / Snowmageddon / SnOMG

Washington, DC is currently taking a beating from a blizzard this weekend. It’s been snowing heavily for over 24 hours now and it is predicted to continue snowing for at least another 12 hours. The total amount of expected snow ranges from 20 – 30 inches (that’s about 50 – 78 centimeters for those using the metric system), with some areas even exceeding 30 inches. A blizzard warning is in effect all weekend and residents of the area have been told to stay inside unless absolutely necessary.

I know Canadians (and Scandinavians, and Russians, etc :P) are scoffing about how DC has freaked out about this storm. I’m from Chicago and even I am a little skeptical about how the city has whipped itself into such a frenzy about the blizzard that one would think it was the end of the world! However, this city is not equipped at all to deal with such intense winter weather. Schools were closed yesterday and offices either operated with a bare skeleton staff or no staff at all. And when the snow started to fall, all-out panic began to ensue.

My friend and I went to the grocery store yesterday in an attempt to buy some non-perishable food items on the off chance that we got stuck in our dorms due to the snow. And my God, what a scene there was at the grocery store! Our local Whole Foods had lines that wrapped all the way around the store, customers clutching grocery carts filled to the brim with enough food to feed a third world country. There was even police there for riot control, because tensions were running very, very high. The nearby Safeway was the opposite – its shelves were stripped bare because customers had cleared it out of any and all stock.

One can’t really blame everyone for panicking, though. When the blizzard is described as “the heaviest snowfall in nearly a century,” people are most definitely going to panic! As for me, I am going to spend my day curled up in bed, watching the snow steadily fall outside my window. I already ventured outside once to see how deep the snow was for myself – I sank my leg into the snow and it’s already higher than my knees!

ETA: Final snow accumulation amount for my area is 27.5 inches. I fell waist-deep in a snow bank :(

Cross-posted from breakthesky.net. Please leave any comments there.