The weather

So...it's been snowing here for the past 12 hours, finally starting to taper off...but the 4 inches of accumulation is really no big deal here, where we may likely have invented the process of clearing roads (and if not, at least damn near perfected it).
However, I got a phone call from a good friend out in the Pacific Northwest while driving in to work, and apparently they're about to get clobbered. From what he's been told (since he's a mere 4 month resident of those parts) snow is very infrequent (like once every 4 years or so) but when conditions are right (as they supposedly are now) they could expect as much as 2 feet. 2 feet of snow is a lot, even in my frozen wasteland...schools shut down, people ski and snowshoe to work, snowblower sales triple overnight, I think you get my point...and we know what the hell to do with it.
Based on my experience in grad school, places that don't regularly get snow tend to panic when it arrives...and cities shut down completely. I'm guessing that is what will happen if the snow shows up in his area. I wish him (and any readers in that area) the best of luck with Mother Nature.

I will now close my post with a few appropriate quotes.
First, Lewis Black:

"I don't know what's more nuts...weather or the weathermen. A few years ago here in New York City, we had a blizzard. 36 inches of snow. I guess you Midwesterners would call that a dusting. Well, our weatherman at the time, Al Roker, predicted we'd have 4 - 12 inches of snow. Well, giving him the benefit of the doubt, that stills leaves him 2 feet off. This was an emergency condition. Now if you were a roofer and you built a roof and it was 2 feet off, you'd still be serving time."

Second, from The Italian Job:

Skinny Pete: "If there's one thing I know, it's never to mess with mother nature, mother in-laws and, mother freaking Ukrainians."

[emphasis added]