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Head to the grocery store! Stock up on water, toilet paper and milk! You're going to need it because we are in for a whopper of a snow storm. And when the snow begins to fall, stay off those treacherous roads! Driving will be dangerous out there so make sure you get all your errands done beforehand. If you absolutely have to go out in the impending doom, be sure to take extra precautions and have a first-aid kit, blanket, flashlight, and some of those freeze-dried packets of astronaut food just incase you get stranded in a ditch somewhere. It could be weeks before rescue crews will be able to assist you.

This is the mentality of the fine people of Richmond, Virginia whenever the forecast calls for snow. Any amount of snow. Even just the remote possibility of snow. Really.

The business I am in feeds this paranoia. I mean, it's February! Anyone in broadcast media knows that February is a sweeps month. February just happens to fall during the winter season when snow sometimes falls from the sky.

And when are people more inclined to watch the news? When we're reporting on corruption in city council? No. It's the chance of snow in the forecast that will reward us with the highest ratings.

This "snowstorm" that passed through left Metro-Richmond blanketed in about 2.5 inches of snow. Yeah, I said inches. Shorter than the average man's pinkie finger. New York City received 29 inches. Almost 2.5 feet. The size of a small child. Our fine meteorologists first predicted 3 - 5 inches for us, but that was a day or two earlier. As the storm approached the estimate changed to 2 - 4 inches. So good job, guys! Right on the money! They even got the temperature right. 33.

33? That's just slightly above freezing, isn't it? That means the snow had a hard time actually sticking around, especially on the roads. The plows were out all night salting and sanding the roads to be sure the hearty risk-takers were able to get around this morning.

I was one of those risk-takers, but not by choice. I had to be at work the next morning at 5am for a special 2-hour broadcast. Our news, like the other news stations, focused on the efforts of VDOT (Virginia Department of Transportation), and we also had team weather coverage with a 2 - 3 minute weather update every 5 minutes or so. Utterly ridiculous and unnecessary. A total waste of time.

But that is the nature of the news in February in Central Virginia. Hype. Scare people into watching. Get those ratings. Are the other stations going on with nonsense and jibberjabber about a dusting of harmless snow? Then by golly, so will we! And if they go on for an hour then we'll be on for 2 hours! I can't imagine what would happen if we actually got a real snow storm. Heck, I can't imagine what would happen if we got 6 inches! But rest assured, whether the snow total be 2.5 inches or 2.5 feet, I'll have to be at work bringing the fine people of Metro-Richmond the hype. I mean news.

(Orignially posted on my blog "Guilty Ramblings of an Innocent Man" in Feb. 2006)

Learn more about this author, Matthew Harrington.
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