The National Weather Service predicted yesterday morning that three to five inches of snow would fall in New Haven, tapering off in the early afternoon. We blogged accordingly — stay inside, watch a movie, whatever 2K12, this is just standard winter.

Turns out the storm was a lot more serious than the NWS first thought. By nightfall, eight inches had fallen in New Haven proper. The state high was in North Haven, which received 12 inches. Not quite a snowpocalypse, but certainly a snowprise.

Mayor John DeStefano declared a snow emergency in downtown New Haven, which allowed him to tow all cars parked on downtown streets between 2 and 6 a.m. (We watched a car get towed on Howe Street at 3 a.m.)

All that snow made driving hazardous, so there were hundreds of wrecks across the state, the Courant reported. In the peak of the storm, at around 11:45 a.m., we drove to IKEA yesterday with our mom, and conditions were near-whiteout. The IKEA was totally empty, too. By our 7 p.m. trip to Lowe’s, though, the streets were in large part clear. And in keeping with the chill vibe of our first post yesterday, no one was seriously injured in a car crash and no one lost power. Children of all ages came out to play. It was perfect.