The local weather gurus are predicting 1 to 4 inches of snow for this area tonight. Those of us who have lived here abouts for seveal decades know that this means less than one or more than four.

Some schools in the area have already posted notice that they will be closed tomorrow. Long-time residents like me know that this means the roads will be clear tomorrow all day.

A week ago, there was actually a three inch snowfall, the deepest here in years. But past events have proved that it never snows when I am in town. The last three measurable snowfalls here, (one half to one inch) came when I was in Atlanta, Nashville and Hawaii. And last week when the big one came, I was basking in warm sunshine in Palm Springs. So old-timers often say, "Heck far! It ain't gonna snow. Howard's here." So far, nobody has offered me money to stay in town.

They tell me that last week when the flakes fell, Knoxville experienced gridlock. As soon as it became apparent that the snow was going to stick to the ground, all of Knox county jumped into their SUV and hit the road. All schools and offices closed at the same moment. Everybody grabbed he kids and headed for the supermarkets and discount stores to load the SUV's with a month's supply of milk, bread and toilet paper. Video stores emptied their shelves. Lines formed at gas stations. Then quite suddenly, an inch of snow packed tightly down on pavement.

Now you have to remember that there is a whole generation of drivers in this neck of the woods who have no experience driving on slick roads. And the ones who have done it before have forgotten all they ever learned. Almost everybody has a vehicle with four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive (What's the difference?)and the one's who don't, have one that *looks* like it does. So it's snowing and they have to see if they can go better than everybody else. Gridlock. Major gridlock. Cars in ditches. Cars on their sides. Cars on cars. Cars crossways in the middle of the road. Cars on cars in ditches and crossways in the middle of the road. Cars upside down or wrapped around. In minutes the only thing moving was wheels spinning in the air. They spilled a lot of bread, milk, and toilet paper.

So it's going to snow again tonight? Stay tuned.
Howard