Be it far from me to ignore weather warnings; heeding them is often a good idea. For example, the warning last night read:

National Weather issued a Winter Storm Watch until Tuesday morning, beginning late today. Expected 3 to 4 inches of snow with winds 10-15 MPH, starting out light to moderate before ending. Temperatures low today between 30-33 and only snow no wintry mix.

Oh, goodness. 3-4 inches is a good amount of snow. Now look at the most recent advisory, straight from the National Weather Service:

A SNOW ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 AM EST TUESDAY. LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPING OVER THE GULF STATES WILL TRACK NORTHEASTWARD OVER THE CAROLINAS THIS AFTERNOON..AND THEN WELL EAST OF THE DELMARVA TONIGHT. BETWEEN 3 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW IS EXPECTED TO FALL ACROSS METRO WASHINGTON INTO THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. BETWEEN 2 TO 4 INCHES WILL FALL ACROSS METRO BALTIMORE. AN INCH OR TWO IS EXPECTED TO FALL ACROSS THE NORTHERN SHENANDOAH VALLEY AND EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA PANHANDLE…INCLUDING WINCHESTER…MARTINSBURG…AND HAGERSTOWN.

Ooo. 3-5 inches now! That’s quite a good amount. Then a friend IMs me. “Schools in MD are closing at 1pm! Evening activities cancelled.”

I’m in Takoma Park, DC right now. Across the street is Maryland. In fact, my window looks out in DC and MD simultaneously. And I’m trying to find snowflakes over in Maryland. I don’t see any yet.

The same friend says, “and now, VA, too! VA schools close at 1pm!

Okay. I find this all a bit too comical. This is a dead horse that has been continuously beaten for the last decade by RIT alumni living in DC. In fact, the dead horse, by now, is an unrecognizable mass of brown fur and couple dark mane hairs sticking out. Still, I’m going to have another swing at it just to make sure.

3-5 inches. And schools close preemptively. Please.

So there.