Once again, Mother Nature has proven that she doesn’t like to be fooled by mankind – not by his weather forecasts or computer models.  Juno, the monster storm projected to hit the New York Metropolitan Area, turned out to be a big, fat dud.  Grim prognostications of 2-3 feet of snow, crippling snowdrifts, and gale-force winds failed to materialize. 

And yet schools were closed the day before the storm hit; roads were closed under threats of fines; mass transit came to a halt (including subways – the mainstay of travel on snowy NYC days); and Mayor de Blasio cautioned employers not to be cheapskates by penalizing employees who missed work.

It’s certainly better to be safe than sorry, but why jump the gun and cancel school and work and close the roads days before the actual event – especially when we can communicate quickly with robo-calls and e-mail?  Back in the day, these decisions were made closer to the storm’s onset and were based on reality, not projections subject to myriad meteorological factors and Mother Nature’s fancy.  A blast from the local fire siren alerted the townspeople, and that was usually enough. 

Original estimates of 18-32 inches for the northeastern corner of New Jersey were later downgraded to 8-12 inches, with final totals around 3-5 inches.  The high winds and snowdrifts blocking our doorways and cars blew out to sea.  This historic weather event turned out to be a “Blizzard to Nowhere,” just like many other government-backed endeavors. 

As with nearly every other forecast for snow this season, meteorologists fell short – more often sounding as if they were daring Mother Nature to hit hard rather than delivering an objective weathercast.  Could all the hype be about ratings?  After all, who watches TV for weather when it’s on our phones and computers?  Perhaps this is the TV weatherman’s last gasp for relevance?   

As for the politicians, they get to puff out their chests and play all-knowing weather gods – beefing up their street cred on issues like global warming and climate change.  Craving their Sandy moment in the sun (maybe even a presidential hug), they err on the side of caution, lest they be lured by the sirens of a Katrina-like storm and politically hung out to dry like GWB. 

They talk about smart meters and smart energy to save the planet.  Mayor de Blizzardio even admonished us to “be smart.”  Rather than give in to hysterics, though, wouldn’t it have been smarter to take a wait-and-see approach after the initial forecasts?  We are not helpless fools – we’ve seen many nor’easters – we’re smart enough to prepare for worst-case scenarios. 

The experts and politicians who warned of this 2- to 3-foot snow surge and advised us to stay home are the same geniuses who claim that the planet will meet an early demise because of anthropogenic (human-caused) global warming.  Through their collaboration, they force us to sacrifice human endeavor and ingenuity for unsubstantiated claims about impending global climatological bedlam.  But if they cannot reliably foretell the weather 24 hours in advance, how can they possibly predict the climate twenty years hence? 

By terrorizing and threatening us, politicians cover their hindquarters and grow their political power – metaphorically speaking – out of the barrel of a gun.  But today, the meteorologists with their weather models and government toadies with their hysterical proclamations all have egg on their faces.

Like other New Jerseyans, I was furious that we didn’t get our promised two feet of snow.  They cried wolf with Juno, and nothing happened.  When they next sound the global warming alarm, don’t pay them any heed.  While it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature, it sure ain’t nice to fool the entire citizenry, either.