Time lapse photography and bad weather combine to make an Internet sensation. This video of the Boxing Day snowstorm that buried the Northeast has racked up 2.5 million views so far (it jumped by 200,000 views between yesterday and today).

While you can soundly argue quick-hit views aren’t the kind of traffic you want on your website, you can’t deny the share-worthiness and fascination factor of a well-documented time-based event.

Want to make your own video? Here are a few tutorials:

• The DSLR sophisticate’s version, by my talented friend and colleague, Zach Wise.
• The geek version, using an Arduino as the controller, from Instructables.
• The “we account for many possibilities” version from Photojojo.

Photographer Chase Jarvis is credited with saying, “the best camera is the one you have with you.” Since you’re more likely to have your smartphone at hand than a DSLR, check out the 99 cent iTimeLapse and $1.99 TimeLapse iPhone apps, or the Vignette and Time-Lapse apps for Android phones. If you have other recommendations, share them in comments.

And finally, don’t let bad weather ruin your time lapse photos. Instructables has a tutorial on how to build an waterproof enclosure for your smartphone. Think of it as a little weekend project as we head into the New Year’s holiday.