You got a lot of ‘splainin to do, National Weather Service.
We’d thought we’d be writing how now the big digging begins. But we can’t even do that. Cause it wasn’t that big. At least not in Philly and New York.
After scaring 29 million people in the Northeast that it was End Times, Blizzard 2015 was largely a bust. We’re hashtagging it #SnowJob2015.
Boston was a different story, where more than a foot was on the ground and the storm, now a Nor’easter, was still going strong as lunchtime approached. More than 25,000 Massachusetts customers lost power, mostly on the South Shore, South Coast and Cape Cod. And a three-foot surge cause massive flooding. For New York City and Philly, however, it was a cakewalk.Central Park got less than eight inches.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was slammed for criticizing forecasters a few weeks back after upstate Buffalo was buried in seven feet of snow, smiled when discussing the costly, epic failures of the weather men and women who are supposed to be the experts. A wry look on his face at his 8 a.m. presser, he would only say: “They do the best they can and we respond as best we can.”
“I much rather be in a situation where we say ‘We got lucky.’”
One of the responses that is frustrating commuters is that Cuomo and governors in Jersey and Conn. Instituted travel bans and completely shut down bus and train service. Buffalo, by the way, with its seven feet weeks, ago, had no such ban. All those bans are now lifted and in the Big Apple, and mass transit by noon is expected to be on a Sunday schedule.
One top meteorologist, Gary Szatkowski, apologized for the epic forecast failure.
“My deepest apologies to many key decision makers and so many members of the general public,” said the National Weather Service weather man. “You made a lot of tough decisions expecting us to get it right, and we didn’t. Once again, I’m sorry.” Criticism on Twitter mounted as the sun came out. Metro has posted a running feed of the fury.
My deepest apologies to many key decision makers and so many members of the general public.
— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) January 27, 2015
