Compared to 2013-2014 and contrary to what the Farmer's Almanac predicted, Ohio has experienced a pleasantly "mild" winter so far. Sadly, for snow lovers, the most recent prediction of 8-12 inches of snow for January 31-February 1 fell somewhat short. There was enough for sledding and cross-country skiing and we ended up with more than New York City's expected "biggest blizzard in history" and far less than Boston's 24 inches.

To get the real scoop on what really happended in NYC and Boston, we asked several of our Bluffton connections to report in. Here's what we learned. 

From NYC resident Matt Schweingruber, Bluffton native and son of Bluffton residents, Don and Nancy Schweingruber:

"Last weekend, I got an 'urgent' CNN notification on my phone that Mayor de Blasio had just announced that New York City was about to get hit with one of the biggest blizzards in the city’s history. 'My message for New Yorkers is to prepare for something worse than we have ever seen before.' The storm was so big, it even had a name: Winter Storm Juno! The projected snowfall was supposed to be 24 inches or more. As a 4th grade teacher in the city’s public school system, I couldn’t help but be skeptical that this storm would actually result in a 'snow day.'  With the exception of Hurricane Sandy, getting a day off from school out here due to weather is extremely rare.

"On Monday, when the announcement was made over the intercom that school was in fact canceled on Tuesday, there was loud cheering heard echoing throughout the hallways by happy students (and teachers.) That afternoon, the grocery stores were packed with panicked New Yorkers fighting over milk, water, food, and batteries. The news outlets were making it clear: 'Stock up on everything, charge your phones, say goodbye to your loved ones. This is going to be the Big One! The Snowpocalypse!' Later that evening, with light snow falling, America’s largest city was on lockdown. The stores were closed, the subways and buses were shut down, and there was a complete driving ban. Anyone caught on the roads would face a $300 fine. Stay in your apartments and try to survive!

"I went to sleep Monday night expecting to wake up to the most massive blizzard I had ever seen. The reality… I woke up slightly embarrassed with how little snow we actually got. Juno had shifted paths, and New York City was barely hit. I now had to endure the mocking of my friends back in the Midwest who had grown tired of the national media’s coverage of the storm. Oh well, it was easy to forgive the meteorologists this time. Despite the little amount of snow that the storm ended up producing, it WAS able to produce something even better, a 'Snow Day!

From Boston resident Mark Ramseyer, a Bluffton resident from 1959-60, and son of Bluffton residents Alice Ruth and Robert Ramseyer:

"We had a snow storm here in suburban Boston, about 24 inches' worth. The National Weather Service predicted 24 to 30, so it had it about right. Which of course Weather Service does not always do. It predicts lots of things. Some of them happen, and some do not. That leaves the rest of us to guess how seriously to take what it predicts.

"The local government took the predictions seriously. The superintendent shut down the public schools, and the governor ordered everyone off the road. The governor's order made for an eerie quiet when we woke up after the storm. Other than plow trucks, no one drove.  Since children could not convince their parents to drive them to the sledding hills, they stayed home. Since the cross-country ski center is 10 miles away, no one went (and it took a full day to groom the trails anyway). I tried to run with my snow shoes, but even snow shoes are tough going in two feet of snow.

"Lots of local residents took the predictions seriously too, and mobbed the supermarket in advance. We stocked up on batteries. My friend lay in firewood. Probably others bought distilled water. Maybe some stocked up on chips and guacamole to eat while they played Scrabble by flashlight in front of their fireplace. I'm not sure.

"Sometimes important people lose their common sense in these crises. I teach. But when the head of my school sent around an email, she merely announced that only 'critical personnel' should come to work on Tuesday (and that no, the non-critical people didn't need to use a vacation day). Is an instructor 'critical'? If I don't show, my class doesn't happen. Why can't people who run schools simply announce: 'all classes are canceled on Tuesday'?

"Ultimately, the weather gave us a nice vacation. My school did cancel classes. The local ski center groomed its trails. And children realized they could actually walk to the hills with their sleds. 

Let us know how the weather is in your part of the country by e-mailing us at [email protected].