Philadelphians skeptical of snow prediction Friday

Philadelphians are more skeptical of snow forecasts for Friday after Tuesday's blizzard-that-wasn't.

AccuWeather was calling for one to three inches of snow and a wintry mix for Philadelphia, and even more to the northeast of the city and in New England starting late Thursday and continuing through Friday.

But after the storm left Philadelphia mostly untouched this week despite meteorologists' expectations of a foot or more, many people don't quite believe it.

"With all this technology, you think they'd predict it right," said Michael Smith, 25, whose Tuesday history class at Community College of Philadelphia was canceled - along with just about everything else in the region.

Valentino Rudi, a South Philadelphia filmmaker and producer, had a more skeptical outlook.

"I keep hearing them talk about Mother Nature," he said, "but I never see her come out."

Although the National Weather Service meteorologist-in-charge at the Mount Holly office, Gary Szatkowski, famously tweeted, "I'm sorry," after his forecast went bust, people remained unsure of whom to believe.

"I'll believe it when I see it at this point," said Justin Graham, 29, who lives in South Philadelphia and works for the Register of Wills Office.

Many are hoping the predictions are wrong again, as this weekend has two huge events: The opening of the Philadelphia Auto Show at the Convention Center, and Wing Bowl 23 at the Wells Fargo Center, which officially starts at 6 a.m. Friday but gets going way earlier than that.

Which brings up the question: Does one drive or take SEPTA to the Wing Bowl?