I just want to let you all know, especially those of you up north that the snow dance had nothing to do with all this. At least that’s what my lawyer told me to say. On January 7th I did the first snow dance of the season. Remember only two are allowed in a year in order for them to work. I did th mild version of the dance. I think 🙁 OK, I could of screwed up and went a little over board and really got into it once I started the dance but I still think it was the snow God. At least that’s who my lawyer told me to blame.

The first snow dance of the year is one to bring a lot of snow fast, then some warm weather, then a lot more and so on. Since the dance for some reason we have been stuck in an Arctic air system or something with the temps probably averaging around 20 degrees if that. Maybe NYCO can figure out what went wrong with the Snow God this year my lawyer said and make it ease up just a hair. For those of you who are loving all this snow, I take full blame.

For those of you who aren’t buying my story and still blaming the snow dance, I want you to know I take full responsibility. My lawyer told me to beg for forgiveness, blame it on my parents and to let everyone know I will be entering rehab as soon as I can get out of the driveway and can find a snow dance rehab in our area. To all the thousands of kids that email me begging me to do another snow dance I have to say no. For now anyways. You have had enough snow days for the time being.

Jill from Buffalo is thinking about doing a snow dance to help Buffalo pull this years Golden Snowball contest off. She better get going because Da Cuse is starting to pull away a little and Rock City is right on your back. Only 5 inches away. Who ever would of thought that when Rochester had only 44 inches at the beginning of the week. Hey, have a great day all!

Gotta love all this snow, eh. I was thinking about the people up north as my son and I were shoveling last night. Thinking of all the consecutive days that Oswego, Mexico, Fulton, Parish and the others had to shovel this white crap, oops, make that white gold. Gotta respect them for keeping up their spirits during it all. The plows came through today and did their super clean-up after the storm. You know, where they get the roads right down to the pavement and knock a little bit off the snowbanks that end up putting about 4 feet at the end of your driveway. Still, gotta love all this snow and all we can do is hope more is on the way 🙁

The Golden Snowball contest is getting more and more exciting as the snow falls down each time. Rochester has made a great comeback as you can see. It was only a few days ago where they were stuck at around 44 inches or so. Now they are knocking on Buffalo’s door and only a couple of blocks away from knocking on Syracuse’s door. It’s a 3 way race now. Binghamton is trying to make a comeback and from what a little snowbird told me there just may be another storm in the works come mid next week. Binghamton and Albany normally make out pretty good from these types of storms that come up from the south, south west.

There was a lot of talk about Syracuse’s totals that have come in so far on some other blogs plus a couple of emails sent. One of the discussions is at Sean’s home on the web at http://www.syracuse.com/forums/kirst/ about the numbers being low. Some things to remember which was brought up on Sean’s blog by one of his visitors is that when we measure we have to keep in my the blowing snow which can raise the totals.

Another good point made by a meteorologist from NOAA is to consider with a storm like this, the further south and east, and higher in elevation, the more snow you’ll get. Also read what Eddie one of Sean’s readers has to say at http://www.syracuse.com/kirst/weblog/ which I won’t admit to because I know the Buffalonians will be pounding me tonight about the airports again. I’m kidding, pound away. The way I see it, where the airport is, it’s a push. Snow up north maybe a plus, snow from the south maybe a minus ; ) It all evens out in the long run. My guess is that NOAA, the official stats will probably end up coming in at somewhere around 12 – 14 inches for the storm for Syracuse’s airport. That doesn’t mean that the city and the towns surrounding Syracuse didn’t get what they think they got. Indeed there were some decent amts posted by snow spotters all around the city so you really were shoveling what you might of measured and thought you were shoveling. Below are some weather spotter stats from around Onondaga county:

ONONDAGA COUNTY…

CAMILLUS 21.5 642 AM 2/15
TULLY 20.5 1031 AM 2/15
MANLIUS 17.5 930 PM 2/14
CICERO 17.2 800 AM 2/15
TULLY 16.5 900 PM 2/14
CLAY 16.3 743 PM 2/14
MARCELLUS 16.0 730 PM 2/14
BREWERTON 15.5 700 AM 2/15 OFFICIAL OBSERVATION
EAST SYRACUSE 15.5 730 PM 2/14
SYRACUSE AIRPORT 13.2 1200 AM 2/15 OFFICIAL OBSERVATION
TULLY 11.7 700 AM 2/15 OFFICIAL OBSERVATION
SUNY ESF SYRACUSE 10.5 700 AM 2/15 OFFICIAL OBSERVATION

I pretty sure I saw a weather spotter’s snow totals from the city of Syracuse which was a total of 17 inches. Not from the airport location. I’ll post more on the storm totals for all the GSB cities as they become available from NOAA. Enjoy the day all!

I just read on Syracuse.com that the attempt to break the world record for the most snow angels in one place has been canceled for tomorrow. From Syracuse.com News Updates!

Too much snow for snow angels

Because of all the snow, and projected wind chills in the teens, Winterfest and Syracuse school district officials postponed Thursday’s attempt for a Guinness world record for most snow angels in one place. Officials are now exploring the possibility of going for the world record in late February.

Well the new numbers are in for the Golden Snowball city’s which are updated to about 5 pm give or take a little. Rochester did pretty good reporting 12.7 inches so far which brings them to a respectable total finally for the season and they are now only less than 7 inches from their averages for this time of year.

Buffalo just couldn’t get it going. I was surprised along with a lot of other people seeing some of the reports of only 5 inches or so. Of course being farther west hurt them but I think most of us expected somewhere near a foot or so from this storm. No biggy and this didn’t hurt them too much in the overall totals. Plus they are only around 7 inches away from their entire season totals for last year and only an inch off their normals for this time in the season.

Albany who still has a slight chance to make out the best from this storm is showing 8.8 inches of new snow. The thing with Albany is that while the storm is winding down for most of us, they still have a chance to add to their totals.

Binghamton – Look out here they come! The stats were just posted and they are checking in with a record on the day for them of 16.7 inches. Way to go Binghamton. They almost doubled their snow totals for the season in just one storm. They are still aways off their normals but who knows how many of these storms are waiting around the corner. I’m thinking more that Binghamton is gonna win this round now.

Syracuse is not showing what I expected to see. They just posted the stats for Syracuse and they are only coming in with 8.6 inches of new snowfall. I measured almost 14 inches at my house which is a pretty big difference. The weather channel mentioned something like 12 inches this afternoon in the city. With the 1 1/2 inches added this morning that brings it to around 10 inches which could be all that fell at the airport. On a good note, Syracuse has finally hit their average snowfall for the season which isn’t bad considering how they started out. So to round it up here is the new snow that was just reported and added to the totals above. Have a Great Night All!

Not Storm Totals But New Snow Reported Since Last Update

Buffalo – 5.4
Syracuse – 8.6
Albany – 8.8
Rochester – 12.7
Binghamton – 16.7

Happy Valentines Day also! There isn’t a whole lot to report as far as new stats go because most of the snow started coming down heavy after midnight which is when the latest NOAA stats were reported. I’ll post them as they come in later in the day.

So far in Syracuse there is about 10 inches of new snow on the ground. The weather channel is in town and after being up north covering the lake effect snow there I’m sure he’ thinking this is nothing. It will be interesting to see who wins this round of the battle of the Golden Snowball cities. I’m thinking maybe Binghamton or maybe even Albany might sneak a victory in from this snow storm. Right now there is some intense snowfall just south east of Binghamton and if they get into that snow, the chances are they could pick up enough to beat us all for this round.

I have to admit I’m stumped on this storm. They are still calling for quite a bit more to dump on some of us. Something to do with the moisture being pulled in from the coast. If that’s the case it will most likely be to the west of Syracuse. Like I said, I’m totally stumped so stay tuned and stay home if you don’t have to go out because I don’t think this is over so keep an eye on your local forecasts. The weather channel is also advising people to stay off the thruway and roads around the Albany area and east of there and the Mass turnpike.

PS – If anyone sees Dale Stuper, please send him to the Snowman’s house with his plow. This snow is heavier than it’s been 🙁

Get ready to get pounded as the first major storm of the year will is just getting ready to cross into New York state. Most of the state if not all will see some snow and all of the Golden Snowball cities will most likely be getting hit pretty good including Albany and Binghamton.

Anywheres from 10 inches – 25 inches is expected between this afternoon and tomorrow night and it should be a steady snowfall with probably very few breaks in between. Check with your local forecasters because this will most likely be a major snow event. By the time the storm is over Syracuse and Buffalo should be well over their average snowfall to date amounts. Rochester, which is 20 inches below normal may be right around their average snowfall and Binghamton and Albany will be making up some lost snow with just this one snow storm.

CoasterBGM from the forum seen this storm coming together almost a week ago and gave us a heads up. Kudos to Coaster who is from Binghamton for predicting this one. That’s one of the nice things about the forum at Golden Snowball is that we have some Professional meteorologists but also several students from State college and also a couple of other weather knowledgeable people that visit and keep us up to date. You can read whats going on without registering and if you would like to post it only takes a minute to register so check out the forum if you get some free time at http://goldensnowball.com/phpBB/viewforum.php?f=1 Most likely there will be updates throughout this storm.

On a Serious Note – Take it easy out there on the roads. There is nothing sadder than reading about a serious accident in the paper due to road conditions. Your driving a machine that weighs tons so don’t expect it to do what you want it to when the roads are slippery or snow covered. Give yourself time!!! You have to warm the car up, clean it off and then you will be driving slower so leave an hour early for work if you have to. Most bosses won’t get mad if you get there early. I did it once a long time ago. Of course my boss almost had a stroke to see me there early, the one who was normally running to punch the clock. On second thought take a day off tomorrow if it’s nasty out and spend it with the kids. If this storm pans out to be what they are thinking it will be the chances are the kids might get a freebie tomorrow. Sorry about the lecture but I really hate reading about the serious car and snowmobile accidents and there have been too many this season. Have a great day all and keep tabs on this storm!