S'now Big Deal

Chicago just had a snowstorm. Local news dubbed it the first big one of 2010. About six inches fell in a 24 hour period in the city, according to my trained eye. While I am no meteorologist, I consider myself a good judge of snowfall--I grew up in the Snowbelt called Worcester, or "The North Pole" as my dad fondly calls it.

(Photo: View out my front window)

This storm would be a breeze for a New Englander. I endured about four of these spells over a period of three and a half weeks while I was home and all of them were significantly messier and more cumulative than this current weather system.

Yesterday I was walking around in a fleece and a scarf while I passed people bundled up to their eyeballs. I think I'll be able to handle the "awful" Chicago winter just fine (knock on wood). I'm New England tough! Some people here are preparing themselves for this weekend, in which the cold weather will be arriving. I heard it will be about 5 degrees. I braved -12 degree weather the last week in Massachusetts. I am wondering what all the hype is about and why everyone in the world thinks Chicago has the worst winters. Perhaps they have never been through a New England winter, those are pretty tough.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking for a bad, cold winter just to prove Massachusetts weather sucks more. I'm just curious to see if my New Jersey-born-and-bred friend who now lives here and his theory that Chicago cold is less bitter and easier to stand than that back home is right (not sure why but I will explain when I figure it out). I guess we shall see soon enough. Let's hope I don't regret this post. I kept the word count low, just in case I have to eat my words.