Jump to 5:10pm totally dejected update.

Inevitably over the next several days, you're going to hear about the weather in the Washington, DC area. It doesn't matter if you are a local and the news is plastered with status updates, or if you live 3000 miles away and Brian Williams mentions it briefly on his evening report. If there's one thing at which DC is great, it's totally freaking out about snow.

Here's a live look out of our front window so you can keep tabs on the storm.

Since Wendy and I grew up around Cleveland, and we're both serious snow lovers, the mere mention of snow conjures emotions of giddiness rather than concern. It's true, the DC metro area isn't particularly prepared for snow, but the frequency of big snow events is such that we aren't inconvenienced too often when they occur. Besides, the last time we had a snowfall of more than 2" from a single storm was an astounding 769 days ago, so I'm for welcoming this potential late season snow with open arms.

The calm before the storm. Ominous clouds on my commute home.

Given the recent political fervor surrounding the Federal Government's Sequestration, my favorite local weather blog, Capital Weather, has coined this storm "Snowquester." Along with it, the appropriate tags, mock accounts, and references to #Snowquester have popped up all over the Internet. But the big question remains: Will this be a bang of a snowstorm, or a total bust as we're often used to in this I-95 corridor? You can see by the Capital Weather accumulation predictions that we're on the borderline of the 3"-8" and 6"-12" totals.

We're going to be periodically updating this blog post over the next day or so as this weather event unfolds. The primary purpose is to keep friends and family updated on our snow progress and to share everything as it happens. There's really nothing quite as lovely and fun as a snow day in Old Town, so stay tuned to our live front window cam, watch our obligatory puppy playing in the snow Vine videos that we'll surely upload, and enjoy my ranting if the storm fails to live up to the hype no matter how many times Channel 4's Pat Collins measures the snow totals outside of a random gas station using a comically large ruler.

Stay safe and stay tuned.

3/6 3:45 am Update

The Federal Government just updated the operating status for today and they are officially Closed! We're not seeing any snow stick yet, but it is surely coming down. Can't wait to see what it's like when I wake up in a few hours. It is a wet snow, so hopefully won't cause power problems and knock us offline. Updated snow total map from Capital Weather shows 5"-10" for our area.

I may have guessed 5.5" in our office pool, but I can't help it, I'm hoping for more than less!

3/6 11:00am Update

So far the Snowquester has failed to live up to the hype. It is snowing, and has been for at least nine hours, but here's the sad view out of our sunporch to the backyard. Pretty depressing.

This is all due to the warm weather we've had over the last several days, which has led to warm ground/roads. 20 miles west of us they already have six or more inches of snow, but we've got nothing. Well, at least we're starting to get our Pat Collins Snow Stick on channel 4. Later they're giving one away to a lucky winner. I can only hope to be that lucky person!

Hopefully we'll have more snow to update you on later. Until then, we need to look for some projects to do around the house to distract me from my mounting disappointment.

3/6 11:45am Update

Still no snow but Wendy just yelled at me for having "Pat Collins tourettes." But I just learned the best snowman photo can win an official Pat Collins Snow Stick! If only we had snow!!!!!

3/6 2:05pm Update

Worst. Snowstorm. Ever.

At least that's how it is in Old Town. I keep seeing photos and news stories of massive snow all over the Virginia area, but we've got nothing. Even commenters are saying they have a little snow just three miles south of us. But here...bupkis. I'm just dejected. Here I wanted to give you all wonderful photos of snowy Old Town, in all of it's beauty, but instead we're stuck inside because it's essentially raining giant raindrops that masquerade as snowflakes.

Our whole area has the distinct tendency to seriously overstate the possibility and projections of snow accumulations, and every time I buy into the hype and get excited. Nine times out of ten, I'm sorely disappointed. It seems we only get good snowstorm seasons about once every seven years. We had one in 2003, the next in 2010, so I'll report back in 2017.

We need to go out to grab Lulu some food, so maybe she'll get to experience some miserable wetness so she can do her business, but it seems we won't have any frolicking puppy videos to entertain you with. For this, I am truly sorry. 

3/6 5:10pm Update

Total Bust.

That's all there is to it. At least for Alexandria and DC area snow lovers, this entire storm, all of the hype, all of the lead-up, massive snow predictions, suggestions of thunder snow, the thought that Pat Collins Snow Stick would be completely buried under massive mounds of snow, it's all been a whole lot of nothing. Apparently someone forgot to fill mother nature in on all of our lofty plans.

I wanted to give you photos like this...

...or this...

...but all I have is this.

I hear there's tremendous volume of snow at points west and south, but our point, the one that I had such high hopes for, nothing. Sorry I bought into the hype, the hope, and hysteria, I am humbly apologetic. This pretty much sums up this storm.

Now we turn our attention to St. Paddy's day and spring. Maybe next year, snow, maybe next year.