Originally Posted by tjradj

You're right that those of us in the North don't get it when a few inches closes down a city, but we have the equipment to deal with it. A state of emergency doesn't even get called unless the snow is coming down faster than the plows can clear it and then only if it's building up to the point of no cars moving. It takes a lot to close a road up here. And even if they do, some of us Canucks still try to get there, just for the 'thrill.' Mind you, our town's snow removal budget in in the million+ range. Before Christmas we did have a doozy of a storm. My 4' fence had only 6" showing. And there were hundreds of people stranded on the 401 (like an interstate) for days.
I personally don't mind the "snow days". But we also prepare for the possibility. You never let yourself run out of certain foods, and everyone has a freezer for extra stock. Most have an alternate source of cooking like a BBQ or camp stove. Some also have generators if there in an area that gets a ton of snow and has frequent power outages.
Costco was selling a lot of roof rakes this year for shovelling the snow off the roofs - the weight can collapse them if there is enough.
I don't want to propel the myth that we have snow in July as soon as you get over the border, but, in Canada, we swap 'snow' stories the same way fishermen swap 'fish' stories....."It was soooooooo deep, I lost my pickup!" etc.