40.64 centimeters, 1 1/2 feet, and 1/2 a meter; all of these are equivalent measurements of the amount of snow we received in a five hour period this past week.
If you’re at all curious what 16 inches of snow looks like, here you go:
Our block
- Our street
A Toyota Prius
16 actual inches
NY Public Library (on my way to work)
Here’s a couple of things I noticed that I’m sure many southerners have rarely thought of:
1) To further your understanding of the amount of snow 16 actual accumulated inches is—after hours of plowing the roads and salting the sidewalks— New Yorkers were still walking and driving on a 2 inch compacted and elevated foundation of snow.
2) As much as Southerners talk of how surprising it is that the slightest bit of winter precipitation shuts down the entire world of that latitudinal sector of the country—much is the same here. I WAS 1 OF 5 THAT MADE IT TO WORK. I don’t know about you, but that surprised me. I expected this kind of weather here. So, I guess I assumed that New Yorkers would have adapted to winter weather better.
3) When New Yorkers get a “snow day” they PARTY
Outside our apartment
According to historical records this is the snowiest month in the history of New York. Apparently New York averages 24 inches of snow in a YEAR. We got over half of that in five hours! This January, alone, we’ve received 56 inches of beautiful, flaky, SNOW!
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