Buffalo can get two feet and it might make page 8 and get a mention in the national weather broadcast. Hilariously overblown reporting about NYC most times. I suppose the Sandy coverage was deserved, but, generally, our storms are no worse than average.
I’m planning a fun day. Shovel for an hour this morning, have a nice breakfast, watch some TV. Go out and shovel again at about noon for another hour. Come in and goof off, eat a snack. Before dark take another swipe at shoveling. (Finished breakfast and am getting ready to go out again.) It’s supposed to quit early tonight.
I’m not yet 70. When I get to 80 I’ll probably buy a snowblower, but I actually enjoy shoveling snow occasionally. (If I ever move back to Wisconsin, a snow blower will be my first purchase for the garage. )
My dogs love it too. They supervise. My wife doesn’t like all the snow melt water on the floors after the three of us come in, but we’re all happy otherwise.
I miss the big old monster furnace we had until 8 years ago. I used to hang my parka up next to it in the basement and it would be dry in an hour. The new furnace is so efficient it hardly feels warm. Have to take everything out of the pockets now and throw the parka in the dryer.
I remember when earlier this winter Atlanta was expecting a couple of inches and it made the national news with how the city would shut down for 3 days. It’s not the amount; it’s how unusual it is for the area.
I miss being a pedestrian in NYC’s winters. Trying not to break your ass on sidewalks covered with ice. Climbing mountains of snow that plows have left on curbs, just to cross the street. Stepping into foot-deep pools of slush. Getting covered with the slush from a passing car. Trying to walk in the biting upwind between two tall buildings. Trying to walk up an icy stoop while carrying two armloads of groceries.
And now, in suburbia: Driving in the snow and ice, along with other drivers, some of whom are morons. Having a perfectly good snow blower sitting in the garage, because my back is too damaged for me to use it, and my husband is often away on business. Having to schlep through a foot of unshoveled snow, just to get to the car… only to find a dead battery. Getting myself locked out of the car during a blizzard. Taking the trash out down an ice-covered driveway. And lake-effect snow.
And hearing the same “If you don’t like the weather here, wait 5 minutes” that I’ve heard every place I’ve ever lived.
I think one reason NYC gets so much coverage when there’s a big storm is because how different the city looks. I remember after one major storm, the streets were so deserted in Manhattan that one guy was cross-country skiing down one of the avenues.
The New York Times once ran an essay about how a windstorm in July 2003 knocked out power to a million people in Memphis for two weeks (in the height of summer) without any mention in the national press, while a one-day blackout in New York City shortly thereafter got non-stop coverage on CNN.
NYC receives more news coverage because a significant number of main stream media outlet HQs are located there. It’s happening to them therefore it must be more important.
Also, it has three major airports that many, many international and national flights connect through. So storm delays are a huge deal. I’m originally from Buffalo and hated how NYC-centric things were, but living here now, there are legit reasons for people in other parts of the country to care.
We have snow, rain, ice storms, 70 mph sustained winds, avalanches, mudslides, 150-foot tree blowdowns, power failures, 30-foot waves breaking on the beach …
A few years back when we had that arctic/polar whatever it was called that came down from the north and had most of the country in its grip, my wife got so pissed off at Lester Holt on the evening news one night talking about the sub-zero temperatures across most of the country, “including New York.” She basically had the same complaint: well, if it hit New York, then it must be important!
It also has to do with the fact that a storm that hits NYC usually also hits Washington DC, Philadelphia, Boston, and the rest of the northeast megalopolis. The area between DC and Boston has roughly 1/6 of the population of the US. A big storm moving through that area is a fairly large impact.
It’s that way in major metropolitan areas elsewhere, too. It’s partly that it affects such a large number of people, and transportation in and around large cities can be problematic at the best of times, amplifying the effect. Big difference between a five-minute commute extended to half an hour, and a one-hour commute turning into being stranded for five hours! Plus, these places are usually major centers of commerce, so the effects of severe weather can ripple out to the whole country.
Pbbbbtttttt! Redfield, NY, way upstate, got 6 feet or more of snow so far, most of it in the last week. I don’t think many people live there, but the ones who do seem to love it.
That also means stuff happening in New York is cheap to cover.
The same thing happens with local news. A fire downtown might be covered even if it was just a single house with no injuries, whereas if it was 50 miles out in the sticks they wouldn’t consider sending a camera crew out unless it was a gigantic warehouse inferno or there were multiple fatalities.
