The Blizzard that Wasn’t

            So many people are complaining that it was a waste of time to close the city for the snowstorm that hit the northeast on January 27.

            These people suffer from a common malady – 20/20 hindsight. These people do not understand what it takes to determine what the weather will be based on multiple sources of data. Anything can change a forecast.

            The National Weather Service, based on the information available, said that New York City would get 12 to 24 inches of snow. There were no exceptions of which I know.

            Following the predictions from the blizzard warning, and from past experience, the proper thing to do was close the city to traffic, get people to stay off the streets, and to shut down all trains and buses.

But something very interesting occurred. There was a ridge of drier air from about New York City to the west. All the bands of snow headed west hit the dry ridge and practically petered out. No forecaster saw this happening. Central Park got 9.8 inches. Just 30 miles to the east, Long Island got 2 feet or more. That was close.

            From all the indicators, Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio did the right thing. It is always better to play safe, especially when it comes to the lives of millions of people. The worst thing to do was leave everything running, have the storm hit as conjectured, and let millions get stranded in feet of snow with no way to get around.

            No one should be complaining that the city was closed down. They should be grateful that the governor and mayor did what had to be done to protect them.