Snow Totals

So for everyone who is trying to comprehend why I'm making such a big deal about a little snow, here is why:

Several of my friends this was the first time they had ever seen snow.
Others this was only the 2nd or 3rd time they had ever seen snow.
Many others said that they have never seen as much snow as we got.

Remember, I am in south Louisiana, right by the gulf coast. Directly due west of the Florida panhandle. Just the thought of snow is a huge deal down here. Here are some snow totals for the area and their relative locations to LSU:

Zachary, 5.5" (a little due North of Baton Rouge. I think maybe about a 15-30 minute drive once you get out of the city itself?)
Baton Rouge, 3.0" (where the LSU campus is, where I am)
Mandeville, 2.5" (about an hour or so West of here. Mandeville is on the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain)
New Orleans, 1.0" (about and hour West-Southwest of here. It is on the southern shor of Lake Pontchartrain)

So as you can see, this was by Canadian standards, not too big of an event. A few inches, nothing too much to worry about. By Virginia standards, it was about average. The Zachary total being above average, but not extremely rare in the DC area. However, down here, this is unheard of. Snow is rare down this far south. The chances of a white Christmas here are practically zero. The chance of snow at all from the beginning of December until the end of February, again, close to zero. That is why it is such a big deal down here. A snow event like this is extremely rare, and makes a lot of people who never see snow, but want to, extremely happy.

I must say, it was very nice being woken up at 6AM to a door opening and closing and knocking on doors in the room next to mine to see snow piling up in the grass. I wasn't expecting to see it, either, because I know how rare it is down here. Even though it is something that is so normal for me, I still am making such a big deal out of it, just like everyone else. I guess its because its something so rare here and its cool to see it. Death Valley with snow in it? No way! But it did!

Something amusing: in one semester here at LSU you could practically say I've seen everything that one needs to see. The semester started with a hurricane, Gustav. And now it ended with a nice pleasant snow "storm" in the middle of finals (which are going very well so far)!