Two days before Christmas eve, our forecaster and some other members of the team began to call about our network and share information.  We watched forecast models, took into account the dynamics of the building storm, and were subsequently pretty much told we were wrong.

"It isn't gonna be that bad" we were told. Funny, a lot of those folks were from around Hastings.

Until travel became impossible, we kept out on the road assisting drivers stuck in snow they swore would not come, assisting stranded motorists that were out despite travel advisories, and I even got to have a conversation with one young lady that SWORE she would have gone to the store if she had "only known" it was gonna be so bad.

Folks that laughed at the forecast on the 22nd changed their tune on the 24th. This was all very reminiscent of our years in hurricanes. See, I usually give Nebraskans a lot of credit for being saavy, but this week, too many showed themselves to be no different than the folks we begged to evacuate before Hurricane Ivan, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Ike.  There has never been a good explanation for the long last-minute rushes for plywood before a hurricane as hurricane forecasts usually start two weeks out, but yet the day before landfall, there are thousands in a panic.

I was amazed at the number of folks that tried to get out on the orads despite advisories and warnings. I am ALWAYS amazed.

Did we learn anything? I hope so. This was not the last blizzard of the season.