Plows work to move and melt snow on the runways and taxiways at O'Hare International Airport, Wednesday, February 2, 2011. Michael Tercha/MCT/Newscom
It may have been a mistake for forecasters to start branding the winter storm currently pounding the Midwest as the “biggest storm in years” or “storm of the century” several days before the storm hit. It gave us plenty of time to ignore them.
We’ve all been there where the forecasters call for the “storm of the century” and you rush to the store and buy out all the water bottles, fighting the little old lady from down the hall for the last box of matches. The next day when you wake up to only an inch of snow – instead of the predicted 20 million feet – gets you feeling a little sheepish and frustrated at the weatherman’s need to exaggerate EVERYTHING (seriously, we’ve had about 20 “storm of the century” storms this winter season so far if you believe the reports).
Or there’s the days when you do wake up to 70 million feet of snow on your car and you were expecting only a dusting. I’m not trying to rag on the weather people, it’s just that we’ve all been there.
But with 20 inches of snow dumped in some places, Tweets flooding the interwebs with cheers for cancelled school and tales of woe with ice and abandoned cars, it seems like they weren’t exaggerating or missing on this storm pounding the midwest right now.
We’ve collected some of the best winter storm photos from this past winter from Newscom for you to view (hopefully somewhere warm, preferably with a mug of hot cocoa nearby). You can also check out some of the other winter weather blog posts that have some more pretty stinking cool pictures, like this satellite photo showing clouds covering almost the entire continental United States.
Caroline Spence plays in the snow in the backyard of her home in the Heartland Circle subdivision in Yorkville, Illinois, Wednesday, February 2, 2011. Scott Strazzante/MCT/Newscom
A snow covered Smart Car on the Upper East Side January 27, 2011. TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Newscom
Cars remaine buried early Wednesday morning in drifts created by a snowstorm that dumped over a foot of snow and high winds on the city. ZUMA Press/Newscom
"Snow Rats" made by sisters Mica and Noa Yoder won second prize in the High Line Snow Sculpt-Off January 27, 2011. STAN HONDA/AFP/Newscom
Snow falls on New York City, the winter's fourth major storm, with up to ten inches expected. NICHOLAS JASON/SIPA/Newscom
An abandoned bus sits along northbound Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois, Wednesday, February 2, 2011. E. Jason Wambsgans/MCT/Newscom
Snow storm. akg-images/Paul Almasy/Newscom
A set of footprints in the snow and ice covers a walkway during a freezing rain event in Lexington, Kentucky, Thursday, December, 16, 2010. Charles Bertram/MCT/Newscom
Snow sculpture patterns after storm. Dennis Fast/Newscom
Heavy snow in Lancashire. Solent News/Splash News/Newscom
Tags: blizzard, ice, midwest, snow storm