Sad in Boston: no school, no snow

Despite forecasts, Boston remained largely snowless on Tuesday. Few residents seemed upset about being spared, except the children of the city – deprived of real snow on a snow day – and their working parents, who were forced to make alternative childcare plans.

School officials canceled Tuesday's classes almost a day in advance, depending on Monday morning's gloomy forecast that expected a foot or more of snow. Max Baker, a spokesman for Boston Public Schools, said the district of more than 47,000 students tried to reduce disruptions by providing adequate warning.

“Going to bed at 6 p.m. is a nightmare for many families,” he says.

But on Monday evening, forecasts changed and the storm's more southerly track ended the threat of a snow maggon in Boston.

“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 here.”

That was a difficult lesson for six-year-old Hannah Caraballo, a first-grader at Donald McKay K-8 School in East Boston. Tuesday morning, she was ready for action and excitedly collected the building blocks for a snowman: a scarf, a carrot nose and sticks for arms.

She watched and waited hopefully as the rain fell. Reluctantly, her parents came up with another plan: “Now we're going to make slime,” said her mother, Sandy Caraballo.

Many winter-weary residents saw the lack of snow as an unexpected victory. It was a normal day at Mike's Pastry in the North End, said an employee, Maria Papa. “We had a delivery of ricotta from Rhode Island, and the guy said it was pretty bad down there, but here it's nothing, thank God,” she said.

Boston's long-suffering car owners also received a rare reprieve: Given the “sudden and drastic changes in the forecast,” the city said in a news release, “no vehicles were towed for parking violations Monday evening.” The snow emergency measures issued by the city were lifted on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Eric Anastasi, 34, was happy with how the weather was as he walked his dog near Boston City Hall on Tuesday afternoon, as dealing with heavier snow “tends to be more difficult” for people in the city.

“It's just crazy how they hype it up,” he said.