Weather Service decided last minute not to cut snow forecast

Before the first snow fell, federal meteorologists realized there was a good chance the late-winter storm wasn't going to produce giant snow totals in big Northeast cities as predicted.

But they didn't change their forecasts because they said they didn't want to confuse the public.

National Weather Service meteorologists held a conference call Monday afternoon about computer models that dramatically cut predicted snow amounts. They decided to stick with the super snowy warnings.

Greg Carbin, chief forecast operations at the Weather Prediction Center, tells The Associated Press the decision was made out of "extreme caution."

Carbin said a change might have given people the wrong message that the storm was no longer a threat. It still was.

Carbin stands by the decision and forecast.

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