Bob Franken awaits the snow in Philadelphia

Bob Franken

CNN national correspondent Bob Franken is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where up to 15 inches of snow have been forecast for the weekend.

Q: What's the scene in Philly today?

FRANKEN: The streets right now don't look like snow is on the way. But there have been warnings for several days to expect a real nor'easter, the worst snowstorm -- they're being told -- for several years.

Q: What was the effect on the citizenry of the dire forecast?

FRANKEN: It had the effect that such predictions usually have. There was a run on hardware stores and Home Depots and the like, where people were buying every snow shovel and snow blower they could find. Also there's been the ritual run on the grocery stores as people stock up on milk, bread, etc.

Q: How are folks behaving?

FRANKEN: They're expecting a snowstorm and they're preparing for it. Most of those we've talked to are in good humor. What's always interesting to watch is the reaction of elected officials, who have now learned the lesson that you don't stay in office if you don't provide good snow removal. The municipalities from Philadelphia to the Jersey Shore, where the hardest impact is felt, have loaded up their salt, put out their plows and they're prepared for the worst.

Q: What else is happening in the city this weekend?

FRANKEN: There is a football playoff game on Sunday between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Philadelphia Eagles. They have made special preparations for that at Veterans Stadium. They've brought in a special heated tarp from Pittsburgh to minimize any damage to the playing surface. And they've brought in a special kind of blower from the Meadowlands (sports complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey) to get rid of the snow in the grandstands, because Philadelphia fans have this bad habit of showering opponents and referees with snowballs.

Q: Philly fans once booed Santa Claus, correct?

FRANKEN: Yes. Philadelphia fans do not have the most outstanding reputation for sportsmanship, and in preparation for that, officials have decided to take away the snow and take away the temptation.

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