Blizzard puts kibosh on Surface Pro launch event in NY

Microsoft's planned Surface Pro launch event in New York City tonight has been canceled due to a blizzard that's expected to hit the area today.

But users who aren't put off by the rain, sleet, and snow will still be able to go to the Union Square New York Best Buy store and purchase Surface Pros starting at midnight.

Microsoft had invited a number of "Most Valuable Professionals" and other selected guests to attend a prelaunch event near the Best Buy store. The head of the Surface team, Panos Panay, was going to be in attendance. Panay tweeted yesterday that bad weather was going to keep him away.

A Microsoft spokesperson told Neowin that "the Surface Pro launch activities in NYC have been canceled due to weather."

However, I called the Union Square Best Buy today and was told that Surface Pro sales would still commence at midnight. So I guess that part of the "launch" will still go on.

(A number of us were planning to hold a tweetup today near the Best Buy store. We have canceled our event due to weather.)

Microsoft's launch of its Intel-based Surface Pro was planned to be a lot more low-key than the Surface RT release on October 25-26. The company's now-closed Times Square pop-up Microsoft Store was the location for the Surface RT launch. Microsoft ended up not taking any preorders for the Surface Pro, unlike the case with the Surface RT.

Microsoft executives have said they will offer Surface Pros starting Saturday through all Microsoft retail stores, microsoftstore.com, and at Staples and Best Buy in the U.S., as well as from a number of locations in Canada. If you're planning to try to buy a Surface Pro tonight in person, make sure to call your local retail outlet to make sure it will be open at midnight.

This story originally appeared at ZDNet under the headline "Microsoft Surface Pro launch cancelled, but devices still go on sale at midnight."