Here on the lake, we got six to eight inches from that storm. We generally get only the fringe of the nor'easters. (Although the one today seems to be straying west more than usual.) In R-Town, six to eight inches is the sort of thing we get every week to 10 days through out the winter, so it's something the DPW crews are used to dealing with. It's just par for the course.

Lake Ontario is large enough to make its own weather, like all the Great Lakes do. We get "lake-effect" snow nearly every single day, so the DPW crews are out every single day. That's what keeps things passable here. They don't wait until it's over before going out. They're out anyway. If they waited until it stopped snowing before they cleared the roads here, then they'd be waiting to St. Paddy's Day.

Thus, despite the region's reputation for snowfall, the roads are clear or nearly so for the vast majority of the winter. The worst I usually deal with is my building's driveway.

This morning I'll carry my bike to the curb. I'm subbing at a different library branch than my own this morning. If the sidewalk plows haven't been out yet, I'll have to carry my bike over the snowbank lining the street to get to the door. At my branch the staff entrance is off the parking lot, which is generally plowed long before I get there at lunch time.

That's for a typical winter, of course. Last year was way different. This year is shaping up to be typical, although it got off to a late start.

(And what's all this nonsense with named snow storms? Here, it would make more sense to name the sunny days. There are fewer of those. We might get as far as Sunny Day Harold in a usual winter.)