The “it” we are referring to was the surprise April Fool’s Day snowstorm of 1997 — 20 years ago this week — that dumped 25 inches of snow in this immediate area and even more in other places in the Greater Boston area.
We recall that the weather forecasters had not predicted such a deluge of the white stuff, similar to the Blizzard of ’78, which similarly was not forecast to be the huge weather event that it turned out to be.
However, the blizzard truly inundated the Boston area with a snowfall rate that essentially paralyzed our region, forcing the closure of schools, businesses, and government offices for the day.
We remember waking up on the morning of April 1 and thinking, “Is this for real?” — and perhaps that we still were dreaming.
But Mother Nature indeed had played a trick that was no joke — reminding all of us that despite all of our technology and modern way-of-life, we still remain at the mercy of natural forces beyond our control.