OMG it's going to snow in winter: The frenzy before the storm

As opposed to the calm of the cliche.  Wow. If you watched the news this morning you would think the end of the world was approaching.  A snowstorm in winter, imagine that!

This photo was taken at our house in Valdez, 30 hours into a
36-hour snowfall that eventually totaled 51 inches.  My son
was about 5 feet tall at a time and when the snow started,
there was less than a foot on the ground.  It didn't even close
the schools.  He had just finished shoveling off that porch
roof which is why he was warm enough to take off his coat.

First a qualification.  Over the years Alaskans learn not to go all superlative on folks who talk about cold and storms where they live.  Of course, Alaskans have weathered worse, but that doesn't really lessen what others are experiencing with their storms Outside.

Instead we listen smugly knowing we could point out colder temperatures, higher winds, deeper snow than anything those folks are complaining about, but we try not to point it out.  It doesn't help and the listeners often resent you for saying it.  Other places aren't prepared as well,  their cities don’t have the equipment to deal with it, and the people themselves spend most of their lives indoors, move in cars, don't much live with the reality of climate affecting their lives and perhaps don't think that much about being prepared for serious weather conditions, at least until the last minute.

All that being a given, good grief.  Watching CNN this morning, all they are talking about is this approaching storm BEFORE IT HAPPENS.  It has barely started, people,  there is other news and frankly it is winter and  generally it is probably going to snow at some point.  Government officials on TV telling people all the warnings about impending storms, things most people have known for their lifetimes,  stock up on food,  stay home,  the snow is heavy and wet so be careful shoveling (is there ever a snowstorm in the Lower 48 where some poor soul doesn't suffer a heart attack with a shovel in his hand?)

This stuff happens.  These shrill warnings by of oh-so-sympathetic  talking heads on the 24-hour news cycle, people who probably went to work this morning in designer clothes rather than something unstylish but made for cold weather, have jumped on the approaching storm, reporting news before it happens when it is something people should be and probably are intelligent enough to take it in stride, deal with it and move on without their interference.

This storm is supposed to hit the northeast.  You have to wonder if it would get this much coverage if it were to happen, say, in North Dakota where they have real winter weather instead of to the East Coast where all the myopic talking heads broadcast from.  Granted potentially it probably affects more people so on that level it is probably more newsworthy, however across the country, no matter how bad this storm  becomes, there are millions of people who have already in their lives experienced a lot worse.  Ignoring my own advice,  I have lived and functioned in temperatures around 45 below zero, snowfalls exceeding four feet in 24 hours,  winds that reach hurricane force on the warning scale and we go through it without faux concern from talking beauties on CNN. Also, in Alaska, no matter what I personally might have experienced, someone in Alaska has experienced worse.  It is something you learn after a while. So, there East Coast broadcasters, I just went all superlative on your ass. 

It has always bothered me when news people become so self-important that they reach a point when they feel they have to advise people rather than simply inform.  One of the worst examples I have come across happened a few years ago on a day when I went to work at the newspaper and saw that the big display on the paper's website was about how to shovel snow.  One of those things you say way too loud into a silence: "Wow now there's news, teaching Alaskans how to hold a snow shovel."   Not only that but it was accompanied by photos of one of those snow shovels with ergonomically perfect handles.  I had seen those shovels before,  in garbage cans around town after they broke under the loads.  The point is that some reporter and probably a couple of editors thought it was important front page news to teach Alaskans how to hold a snow shovel.  Good grief. 

Anyway, the news today is:  It is going to snow in winter.  You can tell by all the courageous reporters standing outside with a  few flakes flying around them essentially to tell people it is snowing. And, speaking of advice, those reporters are standing out braving the snow and wind, advising people to stay indoors.  Why would anyone take advice from someone stupid enough to stand out in the storm he's advising people not to go out into?  It's all for the drama after all, isn't it?

Frankly does anybody need to be told by a woman more concerned about her makeup and wardrobe on screen who takes it as her mission to condescendingly advise her apparently totally clueless audience on how to deal with a snowstorm in winter.  Please, where is the credibility?  Frankly I would guess most of the people they are talking to know perfectly well how to deal with a snowstorm.

Oh, boy there will be special live all-night coverage of the storm beginning at midnight. 

And then, there's this from my favorite Tweeter: Bronx Zoo's Cobra ‏@BronxZoosCobra

Anybody hear what the weather's gonna be like this weekend?

And, please.  Nothing I have said here is in any way meant to minimize the force of the storm or the danger, nor to make fun of the people who are experiencing it.  Believe me, we who have been there understand fully and are with you in spirit.