Snow

Gettysburg doesn't usually get a lot of snow, but we still have two feet on the ground left over from the weekend, and the current storm has already dumped about 8 inches on us and continues. If you're reading this and you're in one of my classes, turn off your computer and get to class - your parents paid good money for a year's worth of book-learnin', and so book learnin' is what you're gonna get. Back in Wisconsin we call a day with snow like this "Wednesday."

Not so Washington DC, which every year is shocked, shocked that they can have a blizzard there. It never snows in DC, they say, which is why we don't own any snow plows. Well, when I was in college there in the early 80s we would get a 1-2 foot blizzard once a year at a minimum. I've lived north and south of DC for the last 17 years, and it seems that every winter there's at least one storm that closes the airports and prevents my colleagues who live in the area from driving up to teach their classes. Here's the annual data. Things have been pretty quiet in the last few years, but I think to say that a storm like the one that hit this past week is unprecedented or unexpected is to be ignorant of history. Get some freakin' snow plows!

This is especially important because this week, it turns out, is survey week for the monthly employment situation report. All across the eastern seaboard the Census Bureau is going to call people up and ask them "have you worked outside the home for pay in the past week"? How many people, especially in the DC area, are going to say "no, I can't get my car out of the driveway"? How will this affect February's job numbers? In fact, how many Census workers are actually at their desks making these calls?