Why do we buy milk and bread before a snowstorm?

Rain, sleet or snow, everyone rushes compulsively to the grocery store for milk, bread and eggs. Many grocery store shelves are bare. It's become an American snowstorm tradition.

But why? Stockpiling perishables is not always based in logic.

Dr. J. Kip Matthews, an Athens psychologist, said part of the reason is stockpiling behavior can give people a “sense of control in an uncontrollable situation.”

But Matthews believes other factors are in play, particularly in Atlanta, which experienced a crippling ice storm not too long ago.

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"When there is a perceived crisis (like a snowstorm), people tend to focus on getting their basic needs met including making sure that they have enough food on hand," Matthews said in an e-mail. "This behavior can be intensified when they go through an experience like that in Atlanta a few years ago when people were stuck on the road for 8 hours."

And there’s a herd mentality at play, too. If people see others flocking in droves to the grocery store, they may to follow suit.

Why bread, milk and eggs? Maybe they are comfort foods.

For Matthews, he tends not to rush to the store for milk and bread unless there's a prediction of an ice storm and possible loss of power. Even then, he tries to make sure there's enough food that does not need to be cooked or refrigerated in the event the power goes out.

The need to for perishables was the inspiration for the French Toast Alert System, which according to its site is "joke to poke fun at the fact that, every time the weather gets cold (especially in certain parts of the country), stores seem to quickly run out of milk, bread, and eggs... which happen to be the ingredients for making french toast!"

Meanwhile, this mom of three wasn’t buying bread or milk during the anticipation of snow in January. She was buying wine in a box.

Cox Media Group