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Look alive, people: We aren't even 48 hours into 2014 and the first blizzard of this young year is slated to slam the East Coast today. This snow beast is going to be a pain. It is ensured to turn at least one of your commutes into a mess, delay or cancel flights into the Northeast, and definitely keep you from the gym.
Obviously, you should be losing your mind right now. But how much freaking out should you be doing, exactly? Here's what you need to know about the year's first super-storm.
There Are a Bunch of Factors Which Made This Storm Possible
Perhaps the most obnoxious quality of this storm is that it wasn't initially going to happen. There was some chatter earlier this week that New York City might not even see snow and that it wasn't a big deal, and whatnot. That was before a lot of factors went out of their way to make this special nuisance possible.
The first component, as Accuweather reports, is a high pressure system over Canada, specifically Quebec. That pushes cold air down into the Northeast, and that concentrated cold air makes all being outside so miserable. That cold air also makes it possible for the wind chills to hit sub-zero temperatures that will hurt your face.