Embarrassed weather forecasters were today explaining why a storm
which was predicted to bring chaos to America's biggest city did notmaterialise.
New York had been warned to expect the storm of the decade on Mondayand today, with up to two feet of snow predicted for the city.
But it was the forecasters and not the weather which caused chaos,with a state of emergency declared, schools closed, flights cancelledand panic-buying in supermarkets - with virtually no snow yesterdayand just a few inches early today.
New York's mayor, Mr Rudolph Giuliani, had ordered emergency actionacross the city, with other areas following his lead.
He was at an emergency command post in the city all day yesterday -watching the rain.
The few workers who came to work also found little in the way of snowto cause commuting problems, but many shops and offices took a "snowday" and closed early as a precaution.
In supermarkets, there had been panic buying as shoppers stocked upon vital food supplies, as well as shovels, salt and sledges.
Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights in anticipation of airportsbeing closed, leaving frustrated travellers to spend hours at thecity's three main terminals watching an empty, but snow-free runway.
There had even been a prediction that the storm would be as bad asone in 1963 which had killed 12 as the snow and high tides combinedto flood low-lying areas.
Instead, there was just one casualty - a 12-year-old girl slightlyinjured after she was hit by a fire brigade car as she crossed a roadwhile on a compulsory day off from school.
The over-reaction was today being blamed on the forecasters and localtelevision stations, which had talked about little else since lastFriday.
Today the meteorologists defended their predictions and said they hadused a hi-tech computer model - but could not always foresee whatnature would do.
"There were a lot of pieces to the puzzle," Mr Gary Conte, of theUS National Weather Centre, told the New York Daily News.
"Mother nature keeps us on our toes."