Judges arriving, snow falling

Overnight lake effect snow appears to have totaled another foot – and it's still coming down. N.Y. Governor Spitzer has asked President Bush to declare a federal emergency, so we've got that going for us. Which is nice.

Still, several of the 27 judges for the general competition have begun arriving. Some of the international judges – folks from France, Spain and Brazil – and the U.S. judges from faraway locations got in on Thursday. But we still have several judges from the U.K., Scandinavia and Australia who have not yet made it to Syracuse. And that does not even count the possible problems for travel inside the U.S.

So plenty to keep the competition's organizers a little nervous ... Yet judging director Marshall Matlock remains optimistic that everyone will make it in before the judging commences on Saturday morning.

"We've been here before, and we have never not been able to begin the judging!" Matlock said. "We'll do all we can to keep it all on track."

The SND International Web Desk will keep a monitor on the airport and let you know what the rest of today brings as the region gets another dose of that winter weather.