As I watch the sun stir a near magical glisten over the surface of the Gulf this morning, I chat with a buddy back up in Jersey who reports a brisk snow. I love snowbound magic too, but this morning I’ll take tide of the moment, especially when it’s 18 degrees in Pittstown!

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Wouldn’t ya know it. Another New Jersey blizzard.

It’s 1:30 PM. My buddy in N.J. tells me that it has stopped snowing altogether, just a dusting fell. This is typical in Jersey. It starts with a forecast three days beforehand of 6 to 8 inches. They let the huddled masses cogitate on that for a while, certainly sufficient time for everybody to work themselves into a lather.

Then they downgrade the forecast a little bit. Now they’re saying 3 to 5 inches, but it is still a menacing forecast. Commercial flights are starting to get canceled. Everyone has been talking about this “weather event” for a day or two now, so in people’s minds it has been conjured to a blizzard before there is even a cloud in the sky !

There is a run on the supermarkets over a wide swath. What would people do if they were winnowed down to their last Triscuit ? The scourge of winter is upon them. Survival hangs in the balance.

Ages hence the tale will still be told: The Plundering Blizzard of 2020.