Winter storm Nemo halted Microsoft's (News - Alert) planned Surface Pro invitation-only launch event

General Manager of the Microsoft Surface team, Panos Panay, tweeted that he would not be able to attend the launch event at Best Buy (News - Alert) in Times Square in Times Square due to the numerous blizzard and storm warnings looming about the city of New York.

Shortly after this, Microsoft itself confirmed the cancellation, with company spokesmen putting out, “Surface Pro launch activities in NYC have been cancelled due to weather; our best wishes for everyone impacted by the blizzard.”

According to one report, “Microsoft previously had plans to hold the event at the Best Buy retail store in the Union Square section of Manhattan. The event was to be preceded by an invite only reception before the first Surface Pro tablet went on sale at that store at midnight on Friday night.”The storm has been threatening the North East for some time now, being expected to bring up to four inches of snow an hour, and batter the city with winds of up to 60mph. Public transit in some cities has been shut down, and many government employees are being sent home.

Microsoft had been due to host a reception on February 8th and the formal launch following at midnight on February 9, with Panos Panay there as a meet and greet to the privately invited guests, no press were invited to the even however.

The Register reports that, “It’s the second delay to the arrival of the Intel (News - Alert)-powered, chunkster slablet that's been getting the kind of reviews that help ensure press don't get invited to launch events. Microsoft had previously promised Surface Pro 90 days after the launch of Windows 8 and Surface RT in October, putting arrival in January.”

Despite this setback, potential customers can likely expect to see the new Surface Pro tablets online, and in Microsoft stores early Saturday, as well as Best Buy locations across the United States and Canada.