Told him to watch the weather channel (whatever it is down here). He told me that he didn't understand the weather broadcasters (even though the programme is in Spanish). I said "Just listen for the two words "Boston" and "snow". He promised he would.
And the next day he apologised very handsomely. A good chap. He asked "How come they are not all dead?" Reasonable Q. I said that the people in Boston have VERY warm clothes, and special equipment both to heat their homes and melt the snow (ok, ok, crumby answer, but one does what one can, right?).
He just shook his head and said "It is good that Panamá does not have this weather." I agreed very quickly. (g!)
BTW, the kids wouldn't be mystified -- TV is ubiquitous here...cable even...and they've all seen snow-disaster films.
If you're ever in a Latin country and asked "What is a blizzard?" (which I was, in David, Chiriqui, in 2009), here is how to answer. It was an NFL game, Patriots at Bears, and the camera kept panning to the crowd and showing the snow whirling about.
"Un blizzard? Mucho nieve, mucho viento, and mucho mucho bobos." Or, "Lots of snow, lots of wind, and a WHOLE lot of fools." My friends had NO difficulty with this answer, and there was a LOT of chaffing the fans about being idiots for sitting outside in such weather.
Me? I just ordered another beer.
;^)