After the usual round of weather-related hysteria and outright hyperbole that originally had snow starting to fall about 6 a.m. and accumulating up to six inches, reality has set in and forecasters now predict that Floyd County will see 1-3 inches of white stuff that will start this morning and be over by sunset.

Floyd County schools went ahead and announced closures Monday night based on predictions but odds now say morning drive time will not be affected and the snowfall that ends before the sun goes down won’t be that big of a deal.

Which raises a question:  Have Floyd Countians become so used to mild winters and virtually no snowfall that even the mention of an inch or so of the white stuff creates panic and runs on grocery store ?

In the 1960s, those of us attending Floyd schools trudged though snowfalls of six inches to catch school buses that used tire chains to traverse secondary roads and get us to and from class.

Now the mention of snow and/or cold weather shuts down schools, curtails some office and retail hours and creates widespread panic in the populace.

Some areas north and west of Floyd County may see up to six inches of snow.  Threats of six inches or possible more of snow in or near Floyd abounded on Facebook.

Temperatures will go down into singe digits in Floyd tonight and some higher elevations may flirt if zero or slightly below and the cold will remain in the area to the weekend so what little does fall could hang around for a few days but what is not projected is neither a “significant winter event” or worthy of such hysteria.

After all, it is winter.