A Disquisition on "Flurries"

Today I was thinking about snow. I'm actually hoping that it will snow again, so I checked the oh-so-reliable weather website and discovered that we're expecting "flurries" soon. Now, I'm from Victoria, but I was raised in Ontario, so I'm technically familiar with snow jargon. However, it behooves me to think about the term "flurry" a bit.

As a noun it can be used in two ways - (1) a sudden burst or commotion; (2) a sudden gust of wind or a stirring mass, such as leaves; (3) a brief, light snowfall. As a verb, flurry means to agitate or confuse.

You can have a brief flurry of hope, a flurry of interest in a new hobby, or observe the flurry out the window. If we expect "flurries" (plural), what is an individual flurry? Are the individual flakes the flurries? And the act of the snowfall the flurry? Are you confused yet?

And interestingly (or maybe not, but whatever), since I'm still relatively unused to the snowfall, the appearance of the first flurry created a flurry of excitement. I have no doubt that this fervent interest will subside in due course. Probably as soon as it snows again.