Obligatory weather post

We had our first significant (by that I mean "seriously disruptive") snowfall of the season here in Shepherdstown on Wednesday. We had already had a few smaller storms--enough to keep you off the road for the evening or make you really take your time in the morning--but nothing too bad. Even Wednesday's storm wasn't awful--about 8.5 inches. Shovelling out on Thursday wasn't fun and my back was quite angry with me on Friday, but all in all, I did okay, especially given my already documented snow PTSD.

In my efforts to overcome that PTSD, I told myself that once we got our campus visits done for this year's search, I didn't care if we got another blizzard like last year. And then I knocked on some wood and all that, because I really don't want another blizzard. But I am trying to have a better attitude about the weather now that I don't have to worry about candidates flying in or getting stuck here for four extra days like last year. Now the visits are over and everyone made it in and out just fine. I think that helped me deal with Wednesday's storm.

Still, though, although this winter hasn't had even a bit of the historic punch that last year's winter had, we have had threat after threat after threat of "potentially crippling storms" (that language gives me chills) since before Christmas. We've dodged most of the bullets. (Unlike the poor folks up in NY and New England who have just been slammed. I really feel for them.) But still, just those repeated threats are psychologically wearying for a traumatized soul like me. (And yes, I know that is a bit ridiculous.) And you know what? Phrases like "potentially crippling" make it even worse. As do verbs like "loom" as in, another storm is "looming." And accumulation ranges like 6-12 inches. Six I can handle. Twelve inches is one-hundred percent more. What the hell kind of prediction is that?

It looks like the folks at Gawker agree with me. This post about the terrifying Accuweather maps is spot on. Seriously. I need to stop checking out that damn accuweather.com so often. But I just can't help myself...

Anyway, here's hoping they are wrong about this stupid "Groundhog Day Storm" that could "affect 100 million!"

For the record, the Weather Channel isn't any more reassuring...check out this map I just saw there:

"DANGEROUS STORM WITH FAR REACHING IMPACTS." Sounds like fun.