New York State Golden Snowball Award Contest

Happy Mothers Day

2008-05-11T10:54:00.004-04:00

To ALL the Moms Across the Globe,

HAVE A SUPER HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

2007 - 2008 Summary

2008-05-04T22:57:00.001-04:00

Well the 2007-2008 Contest is a wrap, congratulations to Syracuse (AGAIN) and to the other runner ups. It was a heck of a contest this year, and the cloest ever final numbers. Below I have the winter broken down by month of the big events. I am from Buffalo, so it might have some bias in the events, but if anything major is missing add a comment and I will put it into the narrative. Comments, Corrections, Suggestions? Drop a comment!

The big stories this season...

1. The lack of major lake effect snows for the cities and a trend toward more synoptic snowfall for a good chunk of the later part of the season. There were a few decent lake effect storms this year, but I think many cities seen a larger percent then usual of snow come from storm systems this season. I don't have the numbers to show this but if anyone does please feel free to comment.

2. The year of the leap frogs as the cities changed places quickly and often. The early months seen quite a few changes and even some big jumps of two places at a time. No one really held a safe lead at any time. One storm could and often did change the leaderboard.

3. Slow and steady won the race this year. No really hefty snowstorm totals this year the cities just kept tacking on the snow day after day. No city ran away with a lead and they all pretty much kept up with each other throughout the season.

NOVEMBER 2007
The 2007-2008 season got off to a fairly average start. As usual Buffalo recorded the first snowfall of the season with 2.5 inches of lake effect falling on November 7th. While this wasn't the same as the 22 inch lead the city had to start to last year's contest you have to start somewhere. Three days later Binghamton was the second city to ring in snowfall with about a half inch falling.

The following week Syracuse and Rochester finally got on the board as the lake effect machine began it's usual late fall rollercoaster of squall lines. While the contest was still young it got interesting early. Two days after Syracuse's first snow they managed to sneak ahead of Buffalo for 1st place. Just a day after that the big guns were out in Binghamton and they snuck ahead of both Buffalo and Syracuse!

Thanksgiving came and went with little action on the snow front, we kept busy with Pat making some shameless plugs on the site. November ended with no huge amounts of snow but plenty of place jumps by the cities to get the contest going!

DECEMBER 2007
December started off with a return to the snow and yet another jump by a city, this time Syracuse taking over Binghamton for first place once again. The beginning of December also brought our first major winter storm potential for everyone. After the hype a whole lot of nothing fell for the cities. As the winter storm warnings feel lake effect warnings went right back up. The lake effect really got cranking later in the first week of December with Syracuse quickly adding up the inches and another leader board shakeup with Rochester jumping from fourth to second and Buffalo dropping from thrid to fourth. Syracuse, Rochester, and Binghamton really kept the totals moving upward fast in December with some daily record snowfalls while Buffalo kept Albany company in the basement.

As we moved into the middle of the month we started looking at our second hyped up winter storm for the cities. The storm turned out to be a bit of a bust from the forcasts but still the first major storm of the season for the GSB. Buffalo and Syracuse picked up a foot, Albany and Rochester saw 8 inches and Binghamton came in last with only 3 inches. Buffalo skated back into third place with their first foot snowfall of the season.

The snow looked good heading into the Christmas holiday but little of that lasted until the holiday, and it was mainly a green and brown christmas for most places.

We headed toward the end of December and the end of the 2007 year with little more action going on.

JANUARY 2008
News Years Day was marked with the Ice Bowl in Buffalo and also seen a return to some snow. Almost a perfect weather picture for the outdoor hockey game with a lake effect band dropping some fresh snow for the game. The New Year also saw Albany making a dramatic run trading plaaces and sending Binghamton to fifth and be only 3 inches behind Buffalo in third.

After the early snow to start the New Year off things turned spring like in the GSB with temps getting into the 50's and 60's for many places breaking tons of temperature records. Buffalo recorded three consecutive days of record high temps on January 7th, 8th, and 9th. The record temps came to a quick end as a return to cooler weather was marked by a very unusal overnight squall line of severe thunderstorms. Hail, Thunder, Lightning, and Winds over 70mph did some damage to parts of Western and Central NY. I almost forgot to mention I did my first snow dance of the season the day before these thunderstorms but guess I got my foot worked mixed up somewhere.

By the middle of the month the snow started to fall again and the battle for 3rd, 4th and 5th place really got close with Buffalo in 3rd being a mere 2 inches from falling into last place Binghamton. The lake effect was on and off regulary throughout mid January but there was little movement of the cities during all of this. Syracuse was slow in adding the inches and Rochester took advantage of some lake effect to keep inching towards first place.

The middle of the month was also the first real large and extended lake effect storm. Totals on Lake Ontario reached over 30 inches in the Fulton and Oswego areas.

Feeling the heat comming I went out for another snow dance heading into the final days of the month. The results, still not so good. Again high winds of up to 80 mph hit WNY and up to 60,000 people lost power. There was some improvements as the thunderstorms were replaced with lake effect snow however. The storm was very interesting as it pounded Buffalo with blizzard conditions for several hours and even closed the NYS from Buffalo to Rochster, the first and only time the snow closed the section of thruway in the 07-08 season. An amazing 9 1/2 "storm surge" occured on Lake Erie causing damage to the ice boom and flooding several areas along the waterfront.

The month came to a close with Pat trying his feet at a Syracuse snow dance.

FEBRUARY 2008
The month started ripe with some snow and ice falling across the GSB. Enough fell for Binghamton to sneak into fourth place and again drop Albany to the basement. The shortest month of the year moved quickly as another major storm was hyped heading into the middle of the month. Again another storm and another bust. Some snow a bit of ice, and rain. The cities all kept adding a bit here and there but no more changes. The standings remained fairly close and on Febuary 15th were as follows

Syracuse – 76.0
Rochester – 68.5
Buffalo – 59.8
Binghamton – 50.2
Albany – 44.8

By this time Lake Erie was 85-90% frozen however a suprise lake effect storm fired up off Lake Erie somehow and got Buffalo back into the run for the top spot.

The month came to an end with two more major storm forcasts both turning out to be bust storms, a few inches for all of the cities, but nothing huge to change the standings much. Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo headed into a close battle for the top three heading into the end of the month while Binghamton and Albany had a battle for last.

MARCH 2008
What a suprise we started the month with yet again back to back winter storm hypes and again NOTHING! So when yet another winter storm was hyped heading into the second weekend of the month some of us turned a cold shoulder to the warnings. Well this one turned out to be a whooper storm for some of us! Buffalo added up a whooping 21 inches over the weekend while Rochester can in with over a foot. This jumped Buffalo into second ahead of Rochester by an inch and put them only 6 inches behind Syracuse in first. The contest was really getting close!

Just a day later as we neared the middle of the month Rochester snuck back into second place, but Syracuse kept adding little by little to keep both Rochester and Buffalo in check. Meanwhile Binghamton and Syracuse which were so productive earlier in the season really trailed off in snow in March.

The month concluded with some wet flakes but again no changes to the leaderboard.

APRIL 2008
A few flakes but it was a wrap before the month started as most of the GSB seen a month of much above average temperatures and one of the warmest Aprils on record for several cities. Once it hits 87 in April in Buffalo you can hang your hat the snow is done!

It's a Wrap - Syracuse Wins the 2007 - 2008 Golden Snowball Award

2008-05-01T00:03:00.010-04:00

Congratulations Syracuse, Winner of the 2007 - 2008 Golden Snowball Award!

Syracuse has held off Rochester and Buffalo down the home stretch to win this seasons contest by only 3.1 inches of snow. It was a close race throughout the season with a late great final charge by Buffalo and Rochester to narrow the lead to within just a few inches. Rochester and Buffalo are the only two cities that hit their average snowfall for the season by the way.

The picture below is from Eric a dedicated Syracuse Crunch Fan and the Snow Crunchie was built by Eric and his 12 year old daughter. I think the picture also sums up the end of the contest. Thanks to Eric and his daughter for sending it in and just click it to enlarge it. Go Crunch in round 2 of the playoffs!

It's a Wrap!!! There is something about writing those three words that give me goose bumps when I type them each year. I think it comes down to the contest being behind us but better yet so are the cold snowy months. Nice weather is either here or just around the corner and it's here for several months. It's a Wrap means no more snow for several months (Lets Hope).

I think it really comes down to is that It's a Wrap means we all survived another New York State winter and it's time to bring on the warm sunny days of Summer.

Hats off to The General (aka - Steve Madsen from Buffalo) for doing an awesome job helping out this season at GSB and to all the visitors new and old that made it another fun season while passing away the cold snowy months. Look for a summary of the 2007 - 2008 season to follow in the next few days.

From the General:

Well it's pretty much official, Syracuse has won the GSB contest AGAIN! sigh... maybe next year Buffalo, maybe next year... When I think about it though, Buffalo has won more GSB awards then the Bills and Sabres combined in winning throphy's... well anyone who has won more than zero awards has done better then the Sabres and Bills... sigh... another year in Buffalo history.... "Maybe Next Year... Maybe Next Year"...

It's Snowing in Syracuse as The Clock Winds Down

2008-04-30T09:57:00.003-04:00

Here it is the last day of April and the last day of the contest and go figure a small snow flurry is passing through as I type. Snow after all that awesome weather that we all have been getting slips away hopefully just for a couple of days. It doesn't look like anything will accumulate but it's just mind boggling how we can go from the 80's to 30's in a matter of a few days.

Less than 14 hours to go in the Golden Snowball contest and only 3.1 tiny inches separating first place Syracuse from Rochester and it looks like what could have been most likely isn't going to happen for Rochester or Buffalo.

The temperatures are probably going to be right for an upset but unfortunately for Rochester and Buffalo the moisture doesn't seem to be in place to dethrone Syracuse. Like I have said many times it isn't over until the fat man sings and I'm still not singing. In less than 14 hours though I'll be singing like Pavarotti and most likely the song will be dedicated to Syracuse. Stay Tuned!

Coming Soon!!

2008-04-30T01:02:00.004-04:00

Post on hold for another 23 hours give or take a bit :)

The Final Push For The 07-08 Golden Snowball

2008-04-26T03:44:00.003-04:00

STOP THE PRESSES!

This contest isn't offically over just quiet yet... Well on a scale of 0-100 it's about 99% offical, but 5 days still remain until the offical end of the 2007-2008 contest on April 30th. With that being said we are comming to the end of the road on the closest contest ever in goldensnowball history. Only 5.3 inches seperate Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse right now. The last time the contest was this close was all the way back in the winter of 1977-1978 when Syracuse edged out Buffalo by 6.9 inches and Rochester by a mere 0.3 inches.

Anyways the reason for this post... The last two days of this year's contest... the forcast calls for.. you guessed it some of the white stuff MAYBE! While it's about a 99.9% probability nothing but a trace, if that, will fall there is still that one in a million chance Buffalo could sneak something out. I will not confirm or deny reports of one last ditch snowdance occuring this weekend in the Buffalo area. I know I might get some negative comments on this but, I would love for one more snow to finish one of the best seasons in golden snowball history, it's been a heck of a year and an awesome contest this season!

Even if we don't get any snow it's gonna be a cold one next week. So any of you early season gardeners who put any tender plants out already should pay attention to the NWS as at the least frost/freeze conditions are somewhat likely in the Monday - Thrusday time period this week.

Where Did All The People Go

2008-04-19T10:50:00.002-04:00

Who can even think about the snow contest with this AWESOME weather we have been having? To be honest with you I haven't been thinking much about it other than counting the days, 11 including today when the contest finally wraps up.

Hopefully none of the cities got any snow since the last update and I guess I'll have to look sooner or later to see if there were any adjustments made to the city totals. Lets hope not!

Today the grass will be cut for the first time and more than anything I am looking forward to my favorite smell of Spring. The smell of fresh cut grass. Of course with the prices of gas at the pump it will probably cost us all an arm and a leg this summer cutting it.

The wasps are out in full force which is what I go by as far as warm weather sticking around so it looks like it could be here to stay. Of course now that I just typed that and as much as I have been wrong this snow season the chances are I jinxed us and we'll get buried sometime soon. Lets hope it's over! Have a Beeeeuuuutiful day all! Chances are I'll be whining that it's too hot out today ;)

Rochester Sleds Closer to Syracuse Without Any Snow

2008-04-08T12:50:00.003-04:00

The contest just got closer with Rochester now only 3.2 inches away from over taking Syracuse for the Golden Snowball trophy. This all happened while the temps have been in the 50's and 60's go figure. Like Tom mentioned in one of his comments Syracuse actually had some snow removed from their totals. They were at 110.0 inches just a few days ago but are now down to 109.1. Every now and then we will see an adjustment made to the totals by NOAA. I think this is only the 3rd or 4th time that it has happened this season. My guess and that's all it is, is that they may go back over the stats and make sure everything adds up and in this case it didn't thus the drop in snow total for Syracuse.

Believe me when I say I'm enjoying this weather just like the rest of you but I'm still not convinced we are through with the snow totals. This week looks to be great but looking and reading around next week may be a little different and colder but then again who knows. On a promising note I did see a couple of bees over the weekend but not enough to convince me the warm weather is here for good. When I see lots of bees I'm pretty much convinced. That's my little secret as to when I think we are done with the snow. With the race this close we are still sticking to the agreed upon date of calling the contest when April is over.

One thing I am loving is this season we really haven't had a lot of what I call teaser days. Finally we are getting some of these bonus warm days and more importantly the sun along with the warm temperatures. Got to love it! Have a great day all!

Spring Fever Setting In

2008-04-05T11:02:00.002-04:00

What exactly is spring fever? I'm honestly not sure but whatever it is I think I might have it. Although I still sort of, kind of, maybe want a couple more days of decent snow just to give Rochester and Buffalo a change at one last run to take home the trophy I'm starting to think ehhhh bring on the warm sunny days. If it comes down to cold and rainy I would rather see cold and snowy though.

One of the great journalists from Rochester, Jim Memmott who writes for the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester has an article out today which really does sum things up for this time of the year. Read the article at http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080405/NEWS0202/804050320/-1/COLUMNS .

Jim says it all about how the transition from talking about the snow and weather starts to turn to talking about outside and yard things and it's so true. So far this week I have called about having the driveway resurfaced and mentioned how I would like to get the yard rolled this year hoping for a smoother ride while cutting the grass when it's time to. Jim also talks about bird feeders and squirrels and I love his closing line to his article. As always Jim, thanks for the mention and I love the way you transition winter conversation to spring conversation. Isn't it the truth?

General, It's about time you had your name in the lights. OK, print but it's a start. Read to the right of the column ;) Thanks for the help with the site as always. Lets all hope it snows in Buffalo and Rochester sometime soon. Just don't let Tom's Grandma know I just wrote that. She lives in Buffalo and has had enough snow for the year.

Tonight is the big night for the NCAA final four. Mom and myself actually have a shot at winning some matchsticks again this year in our little office pool. So if your out of your brackets already feel free to cheer for North Carolina and Memphis. All we need the to do is to win today and the final game won't even matter. Go UNC!!! Go Memphis!!! Have a Great Weekend All!

Bragging Rights and The Golden Snowball Trophy

2008-04-03T13:05:00.002-04:00

Both the bragging rights and the Golden Snowball trophy are still up for grabs but the days are numbered now for Rochester and Buffalo to steal it away from Syracuse. Looking at the upcoming forecasts it looks like 50 degree weather might be around with a hit or miss here and there. Right now it's a gorgeous Spring day with plenty of sunshine and the temps hovering around 50 degrees.

Just a little reminder of what all the cities haven't seen except for Syracuse in their city since the Golden Snowball contest was resurrected along with a free plug for channel 9 news.

Click to Enlarge!

Right now it's still just a matter of 4 inches keeping it sitting in Dennis Brogan's office in the city of Syracuse. Personally I think Dennis might be getting a bit too attached to it by now and it may be time to give it up. On the other hand I haven't talked to Dennis in quite some time but the way he sounded when I last spoke to him is that when/if Syracuse loses the bragging rights they will find a fun way to deliver it to the winning city. The big question is will it be this snow season or will that have to wait another season.

Personally I have mixed feelings about Syracuse losing the bragging rights to the contest along with the Golden Snowball trophy. It's fun when people talk about how much snow Buffalo gets blowing off Syracuse and Rochester and being able to say to them that the Trophy has resided in Syracuse for the past several years. On the other hand I think it would make the contest a bit more exciting and fun to see it leave the city of Syracuse. Only for 1 snow season that is. With that said all I can say is "Good Luck" to Rochester and Buffalo down the home stretch. I'm pulling for you, sort of!

Have a great day all and Good Luck to the Syracuse Chiefs this season who start their baseball season with a home opener today.

Curing the Winter Time Blues

2008-04-02T16:33:00.002-04:00

I know it's only April and we technically still have a potential 4 more weeks of winter, but I'm ready for spring and summer to get here. You know it's been a long winter when a snow lover like myself has had enough. Only made it to 35 today but I spent most of my day off outside doing some yard work and man oh man did it feel GREAT to get out and soak up some sun for a couple hours. Probably the best I've felt in a few months, the short days (light wise), the cold, and days after days of clouds really start to wear you down mentally over the winter months.

Barring any suprises in the next 2 weeks I'm thinking the standings are pretty well locked up even though it wouldn't take much to rattle the top 3 places. Personally I'm content with the snow being over for another year. Get out there and soak up some of those wonderful sunny rays everyone!

Happy April Fools Day All

2008-04-01T13:35:00.002-04:00

This is one of the days that I am glad that my kids are off to college. In other words I don't have to watch my back the whole day and night like I use to when they were littler. Now that I think about it I kind of miss those days.

I was going to put Rochester in the lead with some big hyped up typing but then I started thinking about it. What if a journalist happen to stop by which they do every now and then and see it. Then write about it on their blog or worse yet write an article in one of the local newspapers. Then of course with the news being so big that Syracuse is losing the contest the AP picks it up meaning several other papers pick up the story and so on. I could only imagine the emails I would get when at the end of the night I write APRIL FOOLS! Yeah I know, I'm a sissy man!

I don't know if I have ever typed about what I thought was one of my better April Fools day practical jokes or not but here it is.

Years ago when the dinosaurs walked the earth, maybe not that many years ago but along time ago I had a room mate who had to get up for work a couple hours before I did. I ended up setting the alarm and clocks something like 2 hours ahead of time on her. I also switched the hair conditioner with shampoo and the shampoo with hair conditioner. If I was smart I would have just stuck with the shampoo and hair conditioner joke but You all know I'm not that smart. Anyways she washed her hair with conditioner and conditioned it with shampoo like planned.

Here is where the practical joke accidentally went a little hay wire. My intention was to tell my roommate right before she left for work that the time was wrong and that she had another couple of hours before work started. That was my intention but what ended up happening was that I fell back to sleep and she ended up going to work 2 hours ahead of time only to find the parking lot empty and the doors locked, lol. Normally it was just a little dark out and she couldn't figure out why it was really dark out until she heard the time on the radio I think it was. Anyways it all turned out OK after a few slaps on the back of the head because she was kind of happy that she got to go back to bed for another hour and a half or something like that.

The moral of this story??? Have a blast today young and old! I do have to wonder how many times "your shoes are untied" or "your zipper is down" will be used today and will work? Right now I'm thinking of what to pull on my roommate. The problem is she is 77 years old and not in the best of health. The best I can come up with is maybe switching her oxygen with helium. That could be good for a laugh or two. I"M KIDDING!!! I would never do that. Helium is way too expensive these days.

Oh yeah! Rochester continues to slip closer to Syracuse. As of today they are only 4 inches away from the Cuse. Go Rochester!!! Have Fun April Fools Day All!

Lights Out For Earth Hour

2008-03-29T17:16:00.003-04:00

I just went to Google at http://www.google.com/ and had to use a flashlight to see around. Anyways today/tonight is the day that the lights and other electric powered products should be turned off for an hour. I believe between 8pm - 9pm is the set time but doing it anytime today or tonight will bring attention to the world wide energy conservation awareness.

Read More About Earth Hour at http://www7.earthhourus.org/

Have a Great Day and an Hour of Darkness All!

Snow Tonight!

2008-03-27T19:23:00.002-04:00

I was going to title this blog, "March Goes Out Like A Lion", but with some hints at another storm heading our way on Monday, this month isn't over just quiet yet.

Well this storm didn't come in as big as I noted the models were showing back on Sunday, but it is still looking to pad the numbers for everyone tonight into tomorrow. Heavy, wet, slushy snow what a treat for all!

General idea is 4-8 for Buffalo and Rochester (depending on the water content of the snow, could actually go as high as 10 inches but not very likely). 3-5 for Syracuse and Albany. And 1-3 for Bingo, depening on how much sleet mixes in there.

With that said if Buffalo and Rochester can get the upper end of 8 inches and Syracuse stays light with only 3 or 4 we will be looking at an even closer race heading into the final month. Sure is a fun race this year!

Snow Dance or Spring Dance

2008-03-25T11:39:00.002-04:00

Is it time for another snow dance or a Spring dance. It's that time of the year where we normally start getting more and more of what I call teaser days. You know when the sun shines bright and the temperatures go into the 50's and 60's. We have had a few sunny days but so far it's been staying pretty cold still. The normal temps for this time of the season range from around 44 F - 48 F for the Golden Snowball cities.

The question is are you ready for Spring or should Winter drag on? Leave a comment if you have a minute as to what you prefer to see. I think I might know the answer to this one though. Personally I would like to see the season end with one BIG storm of a foot or more and who ever has the most wins. Looking at last year though we had a storm come through around April 15th - 16th http://goldensnowball.com/2007/04/song-stuck-in-my-head.html Of course right after that we had some decent days with temps in or around 70 degrees.

Right now it's sunny in the Syracuse area but it looks like that might not last. Looking to the west there is some precipitation going on. Buffalo and Rochester might have a chance to melt away some of the lead Syracuse has if they can keep it to mostly snow and not just rain. The way I figure if it's going to be cold and cloudy we might as well get snow instead of a cold rain. If the sun is going to be shining then bring on the 50's and 60's. Have a great week all!

Happy Spring - The Contest Goes On

2008-03-20T11:22:00.002-04:00

It's time to break out the shorts sandals and T-shirts now that Spring has arrived, I think. Does anyone know what time did (does) Spring begin here in the North East???

Just a heads up before any articles come out about the Golden Snowball contest. The contest DOES NOT END the first day of spring. It ends the last day of April when the threat of any snowfall has pretty much diminished by then. The contest continues and it is still up for grabs and it's still a tight race between Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse. Last place is still pretty close also between Binghamton and Albany.

Just the sound of Spring sounds pretty good even though there is no sign of spring weather in the air doesn't it? More to come a bit later!

Congrats to the Syracuse Orange Women's Basketball Team

2008-03-18T11:11:00.002-04:00

High fives to all of the Syracuse women's basketball team for making the 2008 NCAA tournament this season. OK maybe not high fives because with a couple of the taller ladies if we both jumped to do high fives the chances are I can't even reach their hands. Not to mention I can't jump to high either. Syracuse who drew a number 7 seed in the women's NCAA tournament will be playing the Hartford Hawks I believe at 2:00 pm on Saturday the 22nd. You can get all the information on the ladies team at http://www.syracuse.com/today/index.ssf/2008/03/syracuse_women_rewarded_with_n.html along with printable brackets for the womens NCAA tournament.

Speaking of the NCAA tournaments Sre and Weatherman from the Golden Snowball forum have set up a NCAA Mens Basketball Bracket Challenge contest which is open to everyone. The normal prize is an electronic pat on the back to the winner. They did the same thing for the bowl games during the football season which was fun. They pitted the Golden Snowball entries against the In The Clutch entries to make it even more fun. I made my picks last night which I am sure they are all copying right now and you can make yours anytime you want to as long as they are made before Noon on Thursday.

It's easy and it only takes a few minutes to pick your teams the way they have it set up. All you need is a user name. It really is that easy. Go to http://www.intheclutch.x10hosting.com/ncaabbracket/entry.htm and enter a user name, just click on the team you like and when your done just click the submit picks button at the bottom and good luck if you enter. If your looking for a good sports forum to just hang out at without a lot of flaming then check out their forum at http://intheclutch.net/ . Once again here is the web page to play in the Men's NCAA Bracket Challenge Contest at InTheClutch http://www.intheclutch.x10hosting.com/ncaabbracket/index.htm

Good luck to the Syracuse men's basketball team which will play Robert Morris tonight at the Dome in the Nit tournament. The SU men's team drew a number 1 seed which means if they keep on winning they will be playing 3 games at home I believe. If your down about them not making the NCAA tourney this season then it's time to get over it. These kids will be coming out to play tonight with all heart and it will be a good game. If you have a chance to make it to the game then go cheer them on. The chances are your going to get a decent seat and get a good look at what this team can do. Have a great day all and GO CUSE!!!

Happy St Patrick's Day

2008-03-17T10:54:00.002-04:00

It's a bright sunny day here in the Syracuse area for St Patrick's Day. There hasn't been a whole lot to talk about snow wise lately but I'm guessing there will be sometime soon. We still seem to be stuck in a cold pattern and the Gulf still seems to be pretty active.

The only change in the stats was a tenth of an inch for Buffalo and 3 tenths for Rochester. I still have the felling that many more inches are just waiting to fall. I'm hoping to check out all the other US cities that we have been watching lately to see which one ends up with the most snow this season outside of New York. At last check Erie had a pretty good lead with about 113 inches of snow on the season. Madison Wisconsin was stuck on 98.5 inches of snowfall. Hopefully I will have some time to check them all out soon. Quebec City who Syracuse beat out last year has gone crazy this season according to Sean Kirst who wrote at http://www.syracuse.com/kirst/ called Snow Rage that they have over 200 inches so far this season so my guess is that they will have bragging rights for the snowiest city with a population of 100,000 or more for ALL of North America this season. He also has a nice touching article there from the past about his daughter Sarah who just turned 18 yesterday along with other articles that are well worth reading. Happy belated Birthday Sarah!!!

I'll see if I can get some pictures from the St Patty's day celebration posted later on in the day. Have a Great Green St Patrick's Day All!!

St Patrick's Day Parade in Syracuse 3/15/08

2008-03-14T22:01:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow is the St Patrick's day parade and celebration downtown so I'm just going to repost a blog from the past to let you know how the day goes. Looking at the forecast it looks like maybe a decent day with a hit or miss shower. I'm liking the fact that the winds don't seem to be an issue this season year like they have been in the past. Anyways here is pretty much how our day will go tomorrow and maybe I'll bump into some of you downtown.

Tips and Tales of St Patty's Day in Downtown Syracuse

St Patrick's Day Weekend is here in Syracuse. Unfortunately only one of the few times I get to get out and enjoy Downtown Syracuse. A bunch of us every year, about 20 or more of us which is a mix of men and women normally hit a local soda pop bar early in the day. OK day meaning morning what can I say? Yes in the morning and don't be coming to any conclusions. It's only once a year we do this. Anyways family and friends come to town just for this day downtown. From Virginia, Poughkeepsie, Boston and so on. St Patty's Day downtown is so much fun that people come from all over the country for it.

Here is how the whole day plays out or should I say is suppose to play out. It hardly ever goes as planned which makes it even more fun. We normally start out at the Park Hill Tavern in East Syracuse where we get dropped off by our designated driver for the day. Normally one of our kids who BTW get paid well for for driving us but it is well worth it. Don't drink pop and drive. We catch the bus from the Park Hill to the city. So far in the 15 years give or take that we have been doing this I don't think we have ever caught the bus we intended to. Either all of us aren't there yet or we weren't watching for the bus and we miss the one intended. Once we even got on the wrong bus and ended up in NYC. Well not NYC but definitely the wrong bus that had a lot of detours on the way. It would of been faster walking there that year.

Finally we end up downtown for the Parade. Once we were even fortunate enough to see the parade. That was only because when we got off the bus the parade happened to be right there. Don't get me wrong, we do see the parade it's just that we watch it from inside the fine city bars that are heated and by the way are always packed when we arrive there. I just wanted to point out that we are not the only ones that start out early in the morning on St Patty's Day . One thing we do before we start is we each pitch in 20 bucks a person and elect two people to be in charge of buying the drinks all day. The bars are crowded so it would be foolish for 20 + people to go in together and stand at the bar, or should I say attempt to stand at the bar. Another note is that the first 20.00 we pitch in won't be the last and when I say drinks I'm talking soda pops of course . Tip - One thing I have learned about being elected to the Most important job of the day which is by far buying the drinks is that the first round you buy make sure you order the opposite of what the people wanted. You'll be the bad guy for a little while but it is well worth the shame, the boos and dirty looks of not being able to order a round of drinks correctly when they impeach you from that position and you get out of ordering the drinks for the rest of the day. Trust me, someone else will take over As for being the bad guy, sooner or later someone else will do something stupid to earn the title of bad guy so you'll be off the hook in no time.

Most of the day pretty much consists of freezing our tails off but having a Super time in the process. The way we do St Patty's day is pretty much just bar hop all day and test out all some of the different variety's of brews that are on tap at the bars. I suppose you could say that we aren't there so much as to have fun but let's say we are doing research work on the brews. Maybe this year we will even take notes on our research. I do know that most of the men with us prefer the darker soda pops. Another good tip is to elect a leader to lead your group to the different bars. Someone who actually knows their way around the city of Syracuse. Remember, most of the time it is pretty cold out and for some reason almost always without fail the wind is blowing pretty good. The worse thing is to make a wrong turn and walk for a half a mile or so only to find out you have to go back the other way. For that my Brother in-law normally gets elected and does a fine job most of the time but every now and then he makes a wrong turn. That's normally a good thing for who ever is the bad guy at the time enabling him to pass the title over to my brother in-law for getting us lost. Like I said the "bad guy or gal" gets passed along throughout the day and always has a ton of laughs to go along with it. Jeez, now that I am typing and keep seeing the word elected. I'm starting to see that St Patty's Day is actually a fine example of the democracy in progress with all the elections we have going on. Most of the time the person being elected isn't and to be frank doesn't want to be elected

All in all we hit maybe 5 - 7 bars. We'll normally order appetizers, wings or something at one of the bars early and then end up at Clarks sooner or later for one of their great roast beef sandwiches. If you go to Clarks don't let the lines fool you. They rock at moving the customers along and you have your food in no time. The roast beef is well worth standing in line for. It's truly awesome. I wish I could plug all the bars that we hit but to be honest with you I'm just a follower the whole day hoping I don't get lost or left behind and never really check out the names of the bars we hit. I can only guess that any bar you end up in you'll have a great time. One thing that bothered me a bit last year is that during the day a lot of the bars weren't playing Irish songs. I don't know what was up with that. To the bar owners Please at least play Irish music in the daytime.

The biggest tip I can give is to dress warm. When your ready to leave the house and feel that your dressed up warm enough, go back and grab 3 extra coats. Only then will you be prepared for a great St Patty's day downtown. Then again I think it was a couple of years ago when the temps went up to 60 degrees and here was the Golden Snowball dude carrying a coat and 2 sweatshirts around looking like a fool. I did try the "can you hold this for a second while I do whatever" trick but that only worked for so long. I should of trusted the weatherman that time.

The day downtown or sometimes night downtown (depending on how much research some of us have done) will end with one of us calling our designated drivers to come pick us up. We use to try and catch or call a couple of taxis to get home but that is another story or two in itself. The last time we called for two taxis only one showed up. Being the gentlemen that we are (yes only gentlemen in our group ) we told the ladies to go ahead and we would suffer and wait it out until the next taxi shows up. Well what are the chances of not one of us having a watch on and you all know how time flies. Before we knew it almost a couple of hours went by. Anyways I'm sure you already figured out that the ladies weren't too happy with the men. Something to this day I haven't figured out because we all thought the women would of been impressed with how patient we were waiting for the taxi to arrive. Everyone knows men aren't known to be patient and so what if our patience was being displayed at a hopping bar. That shouldn't even come in to the picture should it That was the end to taxi's being used for the ride back to town.

Summary Finally - Sorry about the rant. I really could of kept going on. To sum it up I always thought St Patrick's day was a great big party downtown. After typing this up I discovered it's actually a democracy process in the works with all the electing we do in our group along with research work. Research on the different brews of beer downtown. The research work by far is the hardest part of the day. Now knowing that it's not the Big Party that I always thought it was I probably won't be able to enjoy it like I have in the past. I'll give it my best shot though

Have a Great Weekend All!

BUFFALO BREAKS 100!!!

2008-03-13T03:12:00.002-04:00

For the first time since the 2004-2005 snow season Buffalo has gone over the 100 inch mark!

Hold off the ballons and party we have a snow contest to win here!

Buffalo was the big winner for the clipper last night with 1.5 inches. Bingo and Cuse picked up an even inch, Rochester picked up 9/10th's and Albany continues to slack with a big old goose egg!

Buffalo is 1.0 inches out of 2nd and 7.9 inches out of 1st.

Rochester is 6.9 inches out of 1st.

Bingo and Albany... just forget about it!

This is turning into one heck of contest now and might come down to the last snow day to get our winner!!!

Looking at the snowfall potential comming forawrd:

1. This weekend remains uncertain! A major difference in model tracks of a storm this weekend leaves a big question mark. One model brings us a small burst of mixed precip while another model brings as much as a foot of snow into all of the competing cities. Gonna have to wait and see how this one pans out way to much uncertaintly right now... What else is new!?!?!?

2. A storm that has been on the models for some time now looks to head into the area Wednesday into Thursday. It's still a back and forth jump between a wind and rain event and a major late season noreaster. I'm leaning towards the rain and wind event, but again... a storm to watch heading into next week.

3. A seasonal pattern with a clipper or two holds on through the end of March but commming towards the start of April some signs are poiting towards the end of winter and us finally entering into a spring trend!

The days are numbered now... LET'S GO BUFFALO!!!!

The General -vs- The GSB Oracle

2008-03-11T11:46:00.005-04:00

Right now the supposedly Oracle of the Golden Snowball stats is getting his butt kicked by the General for our Winter outlook predictions. I'm not yelling Uncle yet though because I still think we have at least another 4 - 5 weeks of on and off snow left. I look OK on some of my predictions and the General right now looks better on his. Here is our predictions that we posted back in November of 2007:

The Generals Snow Predictions

Albany - 65 (-8.2)
Bingo - 85 (-20)
Buffalo - 105 (-6.3)
Rochester - 95 (+5.3)
Syracuse - 125 (-17.9)

My Predictions

Syracuse -151 inches (-43.9)
Buffalo - 123 inches (-24.3)
Rochester - 121 inches (-20.7)
Binghamton - 106 inches (-41)
Albany - 72 inches (-15.2)

I'm not real worried about Buffalo, Rochester and Albany right now but I do have some concerns with Binghamton and Syracuse. Another good storm like last weekend and I'm looking better. Right now I have to give Kudos to the General though for looking pretty, pretty, pretty good. Can you tell Curb Your Enthusiasm is one of my favorite shows?

Here are my snow season predictions!

Here are the Generals season predictions!

Tom posted a comment that Syracuse lost an inch of snow overnight and he is right. For some reason Syracuse dropped from 108 inches down to 107 inches. It could be an adjustment fixing a previous mistake at NOAA or it could be a mistake that was made overnight. We'll have to wait and see if the inch gets added back or not. Right now the race just got closer and Syracuse's lead has been cut to less than 7 inches without the other cities getting any snow. Lets hope that doesn't happen down the stretch too many time. Daver, where are you? We all miss your great input!

Have a Great Day All!

Slipping and Sliding Back and Forth

2008-03-10T10:47:00.002-04:00

Sean Kirst has an article out today about the Golden Snowball contest and his opening line to the story "As any disciple of Syracuse University basketball knows, this is not a good year to take big leads for granted. "
is dead on I think. Check it out at http://www.syracuse.com/kirst/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1205139453122290.xml&coll=1

For those of you who were late to work today the chances are you may have forgotten to set you clocks ahead an hour yesterday morning because we do it earlier now. Just remember Winter ahead, Fall behind and you will have no problems. Hmm, Winter ahead just doesn't sound right does it???

Rochester isn't having any part of Buffalo thinking they can just slip past them without a fight. They picked up just enough snow by Sunday evening to slide past them once again and to take the second place slot away from them. Rochester is also the second city now to hit their annual average snowfall for the season after Buffalo hit theirs over the weekend. Syracuse needs another 4 inches to go over their average annual snowfall for the season and Albany has been pretty close to theirs for awhile now. Hopefully both Rochester and Buffalo got a good enough taste of being close to the top to make a real effort now to dethrone Syracuse to bring home the golden snowball trophy to one of their cities.

I think Binghamton has been the biggest disappointment of the snow season so far and to be honest with all of you it really surprises me because of the storms we have had this season. You would think they would have benefited Binghamton but so far that hasn't been the case. With most of these storms coming from the Gulf area the air has been just a little too warm for Bingo to take advantage of them. If the air was just a few degrees colder with these storms the chances are that Binghamton and for that matter all of the GSB cities would be wayyyy over their annual snow totals by now.

I'll try to track down some of the bigger city snow stats for the nation later today when I have some time because the chances are that some of these cities took a good pounding also over the weekend. Have a great Monday all!

BUFFALO JUMPS INTO 2ND!

2008-03-09T10:37:00.004-04:00

Wow, How much one little storm can change the standings.

Buffalo picked up a record snowfall of 8.2 inches on Friday and then beat that best by hitting a second consecutive record snowfall of 13.1 inches on Saturday. The 21.3 storm total ups Buffalo to 98.4 inches for the year, and as of right now ONLY 6 inches behind Syracuse!

Rochester may have fallen to 3rd place but they aren't to far behind they picked up 5.5 inches on Friday and 7.6 inches on Saturday to move up to 97.7 inches on the season, just a few tenths behind Buffalo.

As long as Syracuse doesn't get any run away lake effect going we are going to come down to the wire for this year's winner. Well let's hope we get a chance for another snowfall, spring is almost here!

From the Snowman - I'm just going to tap into the General's post here and say WOW! Who would have thought Buffalo would have been the first to go past their average snowfall for the season? I wouldn't have, at least not a few days ago. Congrats to Buffalo for taking over second place and better yet for being only 5 inches away from taking over the lead in the 2007 - 2008 Golden Snowball contest.

Buffalo and Rochester Rushing the Hill

2008-03-08T10:24:00.006-05:00

Buffalo and Rochester are making a charge to be the king of the hill. Snow hill that is and if they are smart they will wait until after around 6:30 or so because most likely there will be 30,000 plus SU fans on the SU hill to defend it with the Orangemen game against Marquette going on today. Just a heads up that the schedule says the game is at 2 pm but it's actually at 4 pm. GO CUSE!!!

Here is a time lapse cam shot from Meddaugh on Wunderground that shows a 24 hour time lapse for the Rochester area for the March 7th and 8th storm.

Today, March 7th - 8th

Here is a time lapse cam from Springville, NY which I believe is just south east of Buffalo not far from Lake Erie. I found this on PMS's wundergrounds site.

March 7th - 8th 2008

More New York weather cams at http://www.wunderground.com/webcams/index.html?state=NY

Buffalo broke a record for the day yesterday picking up 8.2 inches and there is more on the way. Both Rochester and Buffalo are making a late season charge to be the King of the snow mountain in hopes of winning the convented golden snowball trophy and Syracuse better be on the offense to fend them off and probably will be come later this evening. Rochester has closed the gap to almost within a foot of snow and all 3 cities WILL be getting snow today, tonight or both. Buffalo is also closing in on second place right now with less than 5 inches of the white gold separating them and Rochester who picked up 5.5 inches of snow and hit the 90 inch mark. It should be interesting as to how the cities rank come the end of Sunday.

Buffalo for the first time in a long, long time has finally gone over their average snowfall for the date but now Binghamton has fallen below theirs. Then again all of the Golden Snowball cities are over their last seasons totals now except for Syracuse.

From reading around and always check with your local meteorologists it looks like Syracuse may be getting only 3 - 7 inches of snow along with some winds to blow it around come later in the day or evening. Buffalo and Rochester could be getting another 9 - 17 inches by tomorrow morning along with some wind which is why I think the stats should be pretty interesting come tomorrow morning. Is there a new leader in the works???? Enjoy the weekend all and "See Snow, Drive Sow". Take it slow out there on the roads today and tonight.

Buffalo and Rochester Can Melt Away the Lead?

2008-03-07T11:59:00.002-05:00

This late in the season you have to take what you can to win the Golden Snowball Award. My advice to Buffalo and Rochester is don't blow it with this new storm coming our way.

I've been reading around and it looks like Buffalo and perhaps Rochester has a real shot at melting away some of the lead that Syracuse has on them. Once again this is one of those storms that can hit or miss some of us, rain or snow or like most of the other storms drop every type of precipitation you can think of on one or all of us. I'm hoping that Buffalo and Rochester can take a big dent out of the Cuse's lead and it's looking like west and north of Syracuse could be the winners this time with Syracuse most likely being right on the edge. Winter storm warnings are posted for all 3 right now up until I believe Sunday morning.

Most likely your thinking the same as I am, HERE WE GO AGAIN! A winter storm in the forecast and most likely much to do about nothing. If it's going to be in the form of freezing rain and rain then lets hope it's a miss. Right now things are so saturated from the mid week storm that I'm sure a lot of areas, rivers and streams can't handle much more rain without causing problems especially down in the Binghamton area.

If it's going to be a decent amount of snow then bring it on. I'm sure the way this winter has gone that those who snowmobile and ski would like to get in as much of it as they can before the warm weather settles in. Most likely it will be a heavy wet snow for a good part of it. You know, the kind that makes shoveling soooo much fun. Hopefully the storm will find some cold air some where to give us that nice fluffy snow that makes shoveling bearable and easier on the back.

From what I have read things should start going downhill sometime later this afternoon and probably sooner for Buffalo and the Rock and they probably have the best chances of picking up some snow along with the north by tomorrow morning. It's pretty warm out right now in Syracuse, 42 degrees so if it does snow before rush hour hopefully it won't be sticking to the roads. As always check with your local forecasters for what's really going to happen and Good Luck to Buffalo and Rochester on keeping this race close. Hopefully the General and perhaps someone from the Rock will keep us updated as to what's going on there. Have a Great weekend all and GO CUSE! Basketball that is ;)