Blizzard Juno

This last weekend we started hearing about a giant blizzard that was supposed to hit us Monday and Tuesday. Dubbed Blizzard Juno, it was supposed to be a historic storm and drop an estimated 4 inches of snow per hour. 

I was so excited when I heard this...like a kid on Christmas Eve. Being from Idaho, I associate blizzards with snow days...whenever we had a whopper of a storm, there was a chance (not guaranteed mind you) that school would be canceled and we would get a whole day free to play and do as we wished. My family never viewed blizzards as an emergency, but as a way of life during the winter and a time when we could all hunker down together at home and have fun...a holiday if you will. Harsh winter weather is the way of life in Idaho, so we were always prepared. Plus, blizzards mean a lot of snow, and a lot of snow meant snow hills for sledding, drifts for converting into snow caves, ammunition for snowball fights, and a frozen carpet for sleigh rides. A blizzard was a magical thing for us and I still get that happy, warm, excited feeling whenever one comes along.

Brian just kept saying that he wanted a nice "gentle blizzard" -- enough snow to justify some time off, but not so bad that it actually caused damage or emergencies. He ended up getting his wish.

I had to go into Manhattan on Monday, and when I left our apartment around 11:30 am, the snow that had been lightly falling all morning had stopped. The wind was blowing a bit, but nothing terrible. 

When I was walking to my subway stop in Manhattan around 1:30 pm, the wind and snow had picked up again and the icy-cold wind was really starting to blow.

I made it back to Queens around 2:00 pm and the wind and snow were still going strong. Tiny little drifts were just starting to form in the passageway underneath the subway tracks. Drifting snow! I hadn't seen that since we'd left Idaho.

While walking home, I stopped and closed my eyes for a few moments. The cold wind biting my cheeks, the snowflakes blowing into my eyelashes, and the crisp, fresh-smelling air transported me back to my beloved Idaho. I didn't stay that way too long...it was freezing you know!

Brian walked in the door about 30 minutes after I got home. He decided to come home early and work the rest of the day from home, in case the storm got worse and the subways shut down. A lot of the people at his office were leaving early, and those that commute in from Connecticut and New Jersey hadn't even bothered to come in at all.

I was so excited all day and periodically looked out the window to see what was going on. It didn't seem to be getting any worse. If anything, the snow seemed to back off a little, but the wind stayed strong. It held like that the rest of the day and night.

At 11 pm all non-emergency vehicles were banned from the roadways and the subway system was shut down so the train cars could be stored underground. Most of the bridges leading into Manhattan were closed as well. Besides the blowing wind, and the occasional sound of a garbage-truck-turned-plow clearing a nearby street, it was eerily quiet outside. We enjoyed that.

Tuesday morning, we woke up to only 12-ish inches of snow. Apparently the storm had shifted just east enough that NYC was spared the worst of it. I have to say that I was disappointed and that it was quite the let down. I am glad that no one got hurt here in NYC, and that we didn't lose power, but I was hoping for a lot more snow. The subway was still shut down that morning, so Brian stayed home. He still spent the day working, so it wasn't much of a break for him, but at least he didn't have to go out into the cold to get to his office.

By noon, the subways were up and running on their weekend schedule, and most of the roads and sidewalks had been plowed and shoveled. I ventured out for a walk to see the neighborhood.

I suppose 12 inches is a lot of snow for Queens, but to someone who has experienced a lot more, it didn't seem like that big of a deal. Some parts of NYC only got 4 inches while areas in Long Island received 2 to 3 feet. I'm not disparaging the mayor or governor for shutting things down and being cautious...I think that it's better to be safe than sorry. I realize that NYC is not used to or designed for heavy snowfall (there's just not really anywhere for them to put it when they plow), and it's good they are cautious about it. I'm also not making light of the blizzard for those in Boston, Maine, Massachusetts, and the other areas that were severely affected and experienced heavy snowfall and flooding. I would never wish for a disaster. I was just hoping for a bit more umph than what we experienced.

I'm calling this the NYC blizzard that wasn't. Today, the sun is shining in a clear, blue sky. Although it's cold and the wind is blowing, it just looks like a normal January day. On the upside, we do have snow now. I may just have to drag Brian to the park on Saturday to play in it with me. By then it might be too late...snow doesn't stay pretty for long here in the city.