February 4

From my perspective, the DC area dodged a bullet with this latest winter storm. THe DC Metro area is very large and diverse geographically, but I live and work in Alexandria and my commute into the office this morning was uneventful. The radio was full of the "be careful out there" type of infor-porn journalism that I despise, but I think that was the result of the media not having anything really serious to report on when it came to the weather.

With the temperatures forecast to reach nearly 50 by this afternoon, I foresee no problems at all today. Naturally, the media are already trying to drum up business for the grocery and hardware stores with Armageddon-type stories about the "next" winter storm. I just cannot place any trust in the local media when it comes to the weather. It is all self-induced crisis after self-induced crisis with those people. I find that checking my local window and going outside is the most reliable forecasting tool that I have!