Chet-NYC

Just to update. The snow is pretty much over here. Can't tell if anything is falling or just blowing around. That umbrella stand poking out of the snow did get covered, so we had just over 9" here.

Middle of Staten Island here. The photo was taken at 8:31am and there's eight inches on that table. (The umbrella stand that is sticking out is nine inches above the table surface. Still coming down at a pretty good clip.

I come to this site whenever there is the potential for a large storm to hit NYC, usually snow events. I love that I can see here maps and predictions that aren't on the regular commercial weather sites or on television. However, there one thing that bothers me about many of the posts- the cheering on and wish for bigger, heavier, more damaging storms and snow totals. Sure, I understand the amazement of a large snow storm. I used to feel the same way. Then came January 1996 and the morning I woke up to a 40" snow drift that forced me to climb out a window because my front door was blocked. It took two days to clear snow from my car. It took weeks for the National Guard and NYC Sanitation to get the mountains of snow here on Staten Island out of the way. While under 20" fell in Central Park, on Staten Island, about 15 -16 miles south, we were in that small band where about 30" fell. There were parking lots that still had small snow mountains in May that year. From that day on, I have despised snow. This week, if a foot or so of snow falls, please look at the down side. It is going to cost NYC a fortune in overtime to clear the streets. Considering the budgetary catastrophe that COVID has brought the city, this is just pouring salt into that wound. For hundreds of small (and large) developments, snow removal is almost always the single biggest expense they incur in a year. I live in a group of 24 small townhomes. Our homeowner's dues raise $43,200 a year. Clearing a foot of snow from our two parking lots and the sidewalks will cost about 20% of that total. For many people who still need to go to work in person, storms like this are a massive inconvenience as they disrupt public transportation and often make driving impossible. So, when you sit here and cheer for more snow and you whine when the storm doesn't deliver a record amount, remember, there are a lot of us who a really hoping that the storm moves in a way that it becomes a rain event, or leaves just a few inches on the ground, easy to clear and move on. If you love giant snow storms that much, move to where they are common. Move to upstate New York where the lake effect will make you happy all winter long.