Washington DC dispatch  Storm warning over nothing  Weather
forecasters predicted a violent snow storm that never arrived in
the north-east of America after a state of emergency was
declared, writes Martin Kettle Exactly a week ago today, those
of us who live in the main cities of the north-eastern United
States got a nasty shock. By Sunday, the local TV news reported,
we would be hit by a winter storm the like of which few could
remember.  It would be nasty. It would be brutish. And it would
be long. The storm would continue for 48 hours. We should expect
two feet of snow, and perhaps more.  At times such as this, the
US weather forecasting culture goes into a full battle mode that
has to be seen to be believed.  Rapidly changing multicoloured
graphics ripple across the screen. Emergency messages interrupt
your favourite sitcom. And the normal repertoire of weather
speak mutates into a new and more apocalyptic vocabulary that is
felt to be appropriate at such moments.  Storms don't approach
in the United Sta