Despite predictions, Boston was left mostly snowless on Tuesday. Few residents seemed upset to be spared, except for the city’s children — robbed of any actual snow on a snow day — and their working parents, who were forced to make alternate plans for child care.
School officials canceled Tuesday’s classes almost a day in advance, relying on dire forecasts from Monday morning that anticipated a foot or more of snow. Max Baker, a spokesman for Boston Public Schools, said the district of more than 47,000 students was trying to ease disruptions by giving ample warning.
“Scrambling at 6 p.m. is a nightmare for a lot of families,” he said.
But then the forecast shifted on Monday night, and the storm’s more southerly track wiped out the threat of a Boston snowmaggedon.
“I think most people understand that these things happen,” Mr. Baker said. “You can plan all you want, but you can’t predict the weather around here.”
That was a tough lesson for 6-year-old Hannah Caraballo, a first grader at Donald McKay K-8 School in East Boston. She was ready for action Tuesday morning, excitedly gathering the building blocks for a snowman: a scarf, a carrot nose and sticks for arms.
She watched and waited hopefully as rain fell. Reluctantly, her parents came up with another plan: “Now we’re going to have to make slime,” her mother, Sandy Caraballo, said.
Many winter-weary residents saw the lack of snow as an unexpected win. At Mike’s Pastry in the North End, it was a normal day, said an employee, Maria Papa. “We had a ricotta delivery from Rhode Island, and the guy said it was pretty bad down there, but it’s like nothing here, thank God,” she said.
Boston’s long-suffering car owners also got a rare reprieve: Given the “sudden and drastic changes to the forecast,” the city said in a news release, “no vehicles were towed for violating the parking ban” on Monday night. The snow emergency measures enacted by the city were lifted at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.
Eric Anastasi, 34, was pleased with how the weather turned out as he walked his dog near Boston City Hall on Tuesday afternoon, because dealing with heavier snow “tends to be harder” for people in the city.
“It’s just crazy how they hype it up,” he said.
