In New England, rating snow storms is a contact sport.

It’s more than democratic; it’s decidedly populist.  As with enumerating Harvard’s faults, telling the editors how they should run the Boston Globe, and wondering what’s wrong with the Red Sox, rating storms and blizzards cuts across gender lines, unites the 47 percent with the rest, and moots racial tension.

And so it is with this one. Whether you call it Juno, or the Blizzard of 2015, or Snowmagedon, you can’t call yourself  local if you don’t have an opinion.

Weather fussiness has an old and long tradition. Consider Francois Villion, the French poet who more than 550 years ago wrote: “Where are the snows of yesteryear?”

Translation: When I was young we had real snow storms.

If Villon was alive and in Boston, he would no doubt be bummed. And for that he can thank public officials. Thanks to Governor Charlie Baker and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, not to mention officials in the Commonwealth’s other 350 cities and towns, Bay Stater’s were wrapped up like bugs in a rug – safe and sound.

If public officials exercised the sort or caution, sagacity, and common sense they displayed during the run up to this storm, political life in these parts might be as exciting as Switzerland.

Professional soreheads, take comfort. Perhaps the clean up will give you something about which to complain.

All things considered, the forecasts were fairly accurate, but they weren’t on target. By that I mean rather than being centered on New York’s Hudson River Valley, the epicenter hit Massachusetts’s Connecticut River Valley.

As a result, Philadelphia and New York City got off lightly. Worcester got seriously socked. Boston got pretty much what was expected. The South Shore, Cape Cod, and the islands took some punishment. Nantucket at midday was totally without power.

I’m avoiding specific number because the snow is expected to last for several more hours. High winds whipping up surprising deep drifts, are one of the hallmarks of this assault by Mother Nature.

Will this one make the record books?

Here are the measures that matter: The Boston record – 27.6 inches -- was set over a two day period in February, 2003.

The Blizzard of February, 1978 was second worst (or best, depending on your point of view) with 27.1 inches.

The 10th largest snow fall was recorded in February, 1994: 18.7 inches.

As the afternoon unfolds, eyes will be on the coast. The next high tide is around 4 pm, and officials are prepared for flooding.