In what is the norm this winter, the “winter storm” forecast with such ferocity for a while turned into the event that wasn’t.

Even the usually-accurate Kevin Myatt of The Roanoke Times missed the call, predicting snow accumulations that never fell, ice that didn’t arrive and problems that disappeared faster than expected.

Still the storm caught many off guard.  Some businesses in Floyd never opened Monday, including StellarOne bank.  Others, like The Bank of Floyd, closed early and the school system, already periously out of snow days, kept the buses off the road and doors closed.

Perhaps the shock from 25-30 inches of snow in the storm that finally arrived in February made many pessimistic and ready for the worst.

Or maybe not.  Perhaps, like the doomsday predictions that often fall well short of the anticipated mark, the anticipation — like the storms that never came — was based more on fantasy than reality.

After a cold night (about 11 degrees) temperatures over the week are expected to warm slowly and a projecting “wintry mix” on Thursday is not, for a change, causing much concern.