Speaking of snow

[Donovan]

I used to hear it all the time out in the PNW and it was generally taken to reference blowing snow which tends to drift where it wants. Phrase was mostly used to represent events out of anyone's control, like a blizzard blowing snow all over, some things just have to play out. At least that's how I remember it being used. If I had to guess I'd say it was a regional variation combining "let the snow fall where it may" (aka chips, flakes, shit, etc) and "as the crow flies" which generally represents a direct straight distance to something as opposed to a winding road. Linguistics is funny. I got a few books at home on American colloquial slang, if I remember later I will look it up.