Wow! We were expected to have up to 23" of snow in Philly. Now... 2 Inches!

[merrily]

2. If they don't stop with the sky is falling (almost literally) forecasts, people are going to

stop paying attention to them entirely. That is part of what happened with Katrina. A friend who lives just outside NOLA was emailing me just before the storm, telling me how people were running into each other and the conversation would go like this:

You evacuating?

I dunno. You?

They'd just heard too many false alarms to panic yet one more time.

Of course, that particular storm was not as horrific as the consequences of overtopping and failed walls, which was another story entirely.

However, people everywhere get tired of evacuating or taking special steps for what turns out to be a middling rain or a piddling snow. I usually can't even be bothered anymore to make a special trip to stock up on food, though I do always keep canned goods and a manual can opener on hand, along with some bottled water.

Still, glad you escaped hardship. Some of these storms hit New England very hard. People dying for lack of power. Homes sliding off bitty cliffs, into the ocean. Etc. Better a false alarm.