The Great State of New York Golden Snowball Contest Weather Website

The Golden Snowball Award Daily Diary

Ok, so it's not exactly the daily diary.  We do miss a few days here and there trying to keep our other sites updated. 
Anyways, just in case, we thought we would save the postings here : )

Daily Weather Rants and Raves

2004 -2005 Golden Snowball Season

5/8 - ITS A WRAP!!!  It's time to bring the Golden Snowball Contest to an end for the 2004 - 2005 snowfall season at goldensnowball.com.  Syracuse with a 20 inch lead over second place Rochester has it locked up  and I don't see 2 feet of snow in the near forecast so it's a wrap.

This was one of the most exciting years since the contest was resurrected again.  This year there were several lead changes.  Buffalo was in first place a good part of the year and Rochester held the top spot for awhile but snowy Syracuse just didn't want to give it up.  After hosting the Golden Snowball trophy for 2 years in a row my guess is Mayor Matt Driscoll has become attached to it by now.  I wonder if he takes it home every night and put it on his nightstand next to his bed.  Probably not, maybe just on the weekends.  I'm sure he is proud to be the mayor of Syracuse which is possibly the snowiest major populated city in the country.

The final stats for the Golden Snowball race are :

Syracuse once again will be awarded the cash prize which will go to a local group or school.  If you have any suggestions as to where we should donate the $50.00 for the Wow Award winner which is Fulton, please drop us an email at comments@goldensnowball.com and we will get back to you once we have made a decision.  Thanks all and Have a Happy Mothers Day!

5/2 - Jeez, rain, windy and cold.  Might as well through some snow on top of it.  Where did that long stretch of sunny days go to.  We even had some thunder yesterday while the sun was shining.  After talking to Mark Weiner who does the weather for the Post Standard and Syracuse.com I'd say look for something soon, really soon.  I still like the odds of Buffalo over taking Rochester for second place with the cold nights they are getting.

I just posted some un-official stats for the smaller city contest in New York.  It's looking real pretty for Fulton to take away top prize.  I'm getting a few mixed stats on their totals but they hold a pretty good lead.  Watertown's stats kind of through me for a loop.  For some reason I thought they would be a lot higher than the 70 inches they are showing.  The biggest surprise is that as things get ready to wind down Syracuse is ahead of Oswego.  I looked once, twice and three times to make sure I was seeing right.  That's probably the biggest shocker of the snowfall season.  Hey stay tuned the next couple of days and have a Super Week All!

4/26 - Since last update Buffalo moved a little closer to 2nd place in the golden snowball contest.  They are only about 4 1/2 inches out of second place.  A real possibility exists for them to take second place this year.  After the way the year has gone that would be a shocker to me.  Binghamton had a real chance at beating them most of the year.  Go Buffalo.

Baseball in the spring isn't always fun.  Yesterday was a good example of watching my sons JV team get pounded by a great hitting Baldwinsville team in a freezing drizzle and sometimes down pour  .  The temperature had to be in the 40's and with the strong winds it must of been about 40 below zero.  Maybe not but it sure felt that way.  To think I was golfing in shorts and a t-shirt just a week ago.  Maybe I was just dreaming.  I'm definitely starting to dream of nice weather now.

4/24 - Wow!  What a run on sunny days and nice weather.  I hope you all enjoyed it because it looks like our summer just past by .  Actually if you think about it the run we just had was probably nicer that all of last summer.  Lets hope this summer is an awesome one.  We all deserve a decent summer this year.  There is still a little bit of snow in the forecast but the contest is definitely in it's final days and the winner will be declared soon.  It's still looking like Syracuse again this year unless the unexpected happens.  Unfortunately with New York states weather, we all know the unexpected can happen which is why we haven't called it yet.

When we do call it if for some reason another city pulls ahead of the winning city that was awarded the $100.00 both cities will receive $100.00.  So everyone can hope we screw up and get stuck paying out twice as much   Buffalo has a chance at picking up some more snow with the system that's going through now.  Will it be enough?

On another note a Big Congrats goes out to the Liverpool Varsity Softball team who went south for the spring break to play in the Grandstrand softball tournament.  They came away the winners representing NYS with style.  WTG girls!!!  A thumbs up to the ESM girls softball team for giving it their best shot coming up one run short of making it to the finals to play against Liverpool in Myrtle Beach tourney.  I have to admit I was pulling for ESM.  Having a daughter on the team tends to make me a little bias .  Anyways, way to go Liverpool!!!

4/12 - Definitely start looking for a lack of updates once we start getting the sunshine we have been getting.  With all this nice weather I tend to forget about the snow totals .  Right now the chances of anyone beating Syracuse are pretty slim but as long as the chance remains I have to hold off calling it and awarding the $100.00 tot he wrong city.   Just think if it was about 5 - 10 degrees cooler last weekend with all the rain we had that would of been a ton of snowfall which could of changed the out come.  Right now I'm shooting for the beginning of May.  Temps are still going down into the 30's so the contest lives on.  I think this weeks forecast might be calling for a round of golf for this webmaster .  Hey, Enjoy the nice sunny week ahead all!

4/4 - Rain or Snow???  I'll take snow any day over all the rain we have been getting the last few days.  Snow can be removed from the roads but rain can't.  You can play in the snow, you can't in the rain.  Well in the warm weather I suppose you can.  Most of us have played in the rain but it's still a bit too cold for that.  My point?  Let it snow!  If it's going to be cold and some kind of precipitation is falling let it be in the form of snow.  Jeez am I trapped in?

An endless line of cars have been passing by my house this morning.  Most likely looking for a way to get to work.  Flooding going on all around me right now.  I haven't tried to venture out yet but I know if I want to head West I won't get too far.  The road to 690 is closed due to flooding and the road to 481 is closed due to flooding.  If I wanted to go to the Shopping Town Mall today I would have to go backwards before I go forward because of roads being closed.  By the way, my kids school is closed today.  They get a RAIN day off.  Jeez, go figure!  My point for this rant?  Let it snow

3/25 - I'm still impressed with how close Binghamton and Rochester are in the race.  A little over 7 inches are separating the two cities.  At this time in the game you would think Rochester would be at least a snow bank ahead.  Warmer weather is in the forecast but we all know how fast that can change.  There's been a few times where nothing more than an inch was predicted this year but instead several inches fell.

On another note GoldenSnowball.com would like to welcome all of the great college teams that are here for the Sweet 16 tourney and wish them all the best of luck.  A special Good Luck to Villanova a Big East team and a Congrats to West Virginia for making it to the final 8.  WTG!!!  I think the biggest surprise of the tournament other than S.U. losing the first game is that I am still alive and doing pretty good with my picks for the tourney brackets.  Normally after the second round I can tear up my sheet.  Of course I just pick them just for the fun of it ; )  Hey, have a Great Easter Weekend All!

3/24 - Way to go Binghamton!  They set a date record that went back to 1965 by picking up 7.3 inches of new snow.  Albany even set a date record with 2.7 inches.  Buffalo grabbed a little over an inch and Rochester made a small move on Syracuse showing 3.1 inches.  Syracuse so far is only showing about a half an inch.  The lead is cut down to 22 inches which is doable.  Less than 7 inches separates Binghamton and Rochester for 2nd place.  Can RocCity be over taken???  The contest goes on!!!

3/23 - A quiet day yesterday but later today and tonight could bring some of the fluffy white stuff to our area.  Bring it on!  Look at how last years Spring and Summer was.  Rain along with ummm more rain.  I think I would rather have the snow for now than cold rainy days.  Don't get me wrong, I love spring.  When it's nice and sunny and mild temperatures.  But if it's like last year I'll take bright white snow over gloomy cloudy drizzly days anytime.

My kids would probably kick me in the shin if they read this.  One plays softball and the other baseball on the school teams and they are all anxious to get out of the Gym and start practicing in the grass.  Even the parking lot would be good enough for now.  In due time.  It should be interesting to see if they get the first couple of games in which I believe start in a couple of weeks.

3/22 - Buffalo picked up a little over an inch as Binghamton tries to fend off the 3rd place spot by picking up a half an inch.  Still neck and neck.  Rochester grabbed a few tenths but needs to do better to play catch up to Syracuse who picked up zip.  Snow is in the forecast so it should be interesting to see who makes a move on Da Cuse.

Yesterday I spent most of the day on the phone talking to meteorologists and a couple reporters.  I still see story's coming out that the contest is over.  The contest lives on until the last flake falls so don't believe what you read.  Stay tuned for part 2 of some interviews from yesterday.

3/21 - Contrary to what you may have read or heard on the news the Golden Snowball Contest lives on.  Shocked was pretty much my feelings when I read a couple of articles saying Syracuse had won the award again this year.  I suppose if you actually believe the snow stops on the first day of Spring then then believe what you would like to.  Wishful thinking .  Are the chances pretty good that Syracuse may win it again this year?  Sure the chances are good but it is way too soon to call it a wrap.  Look for a call sometime in May.  Look for a later day post of an interview with the King, The Man of the golden snowball contest himself to come.

Buffalo and Rochester picked up a dusting to increase their stats just a bit.  Rochester really needs to get it going now to have a chance at being host to the golden snowball trophy for a year.  As of today their about 25 inches of the pace but still doable with some lake effect snow.  The race between Binghamton and Buffalo is still neck and neck.  Will Buffalo allow themselves to be beaten by a southern city???  We shall see.  Hey, Have a Great Week All and look for a later day interview.

3/20 - Sorry about the lack of updates the last few days.  Blame it once again on the SU loss to Vermont.  A heartbreak and heartfelt loss for Syracuse and fans .  I'm over it now though, Really!  Let me just say this though   and that's all I'll say.

Ok weather wise not a lot going on other than a few warm days ahead.  One thing I noticed doing the stats today is that last year around the 16 - 17th is when we all got a pretty good dumping on.  Most around a foot or more so it's still anyone's call.  Hey, Happy Spring All!  Mid 40 degree temps in the forecast.

3/15 - I get the daily Post Standard.  I normally don't read it however until I sit down for dinner which is about 8 pm.  Last night I start to read it a low and behold there is an article about the Golden Snowball award by one of my favorite writers Sean Kirst.  Another great informative article on Syracuse and it's snowfall.  In Sean's article he mentions that research has been done and the conclusion is SYRACUSE IS THE SNOWIEST MAJOR CITY IN THE WORLD!!!  Not New York!  Not the United States but the World.  Major city meaning highly populated.  Think about it, a lot of us live in the SNOWIEST CITY IN THE WORLD.  Why am I shouting?  Just think how many countries there are in the world and think how many cities there are in all those countries.

How many country's you might ask.  That's a good question and there doesn't seem to be a solid answer to it, he he.  The reason being different countries recognize some country's but others don't.  I won't try and confuse you anymore but lets say about 190 which is about how many country's the US recognizes.  Read More Here on Countries.  Anyways consider all the different country's and now consider all the different city's that exist in those country's.  That's a lot of city's.  How many you might ask?  Well it's time to stop asking questions don't ya think.  Actually I haven't a clue but I would think it would have to be in the hundreds of thousands if not more.   I know it is larger city's total snow for the year but consider just one state although the big state of California has over 60 cities with a population over 100,000.  Figure in the rest of the U.S. city's plus the rest of the worlds city's and now think about Syracuse who is just a tiny dot on the entire world map and what would you do?  You would shout SYRACUSE IS THE SNOWIEST MAJOR CITY IN THE WORLD!.  Pretty cool if you ask me. 

Anyways check out Sean Kirst's article where he talks with a couple of people including Peter Chaston who was the one who got this great contest going.  Sean's article is at http://www.syracuse.com/kirst/index.ssf?/base/news-0/111079309123670.xml

Now this is interesting.  What are the odds of Syracuse being ahead of Oswego in total snowfall this late in the season.  Beats me but I'm sure it's a long shot.  It's not all that uncommon for them to receive over 200 inches of snow or close to it.  Right now Syracuse is kicking Oswego's butt by more than an inch.  This will be a contest in itself to see who ends up on top.  I personally would put my money on Oswego but I have been wrong on just about every prediction I have made so far this year so who knows.

3/14 - A few inches here and there for all.  Buffalo closed the gap a little on Binghamton and that race continues to be close for 3rd place.  One thing I noticed is Rochacha needs to get rolling with some heavy snow to catch up to Syracuse.  They are running out of time fast.  Albany still continues to impress me surpassing the 70 inch mark.  WTG Albany.  I wonder if our state reps shovel there or do their aids.  I know, dumb question huh?  Hey, Have an Awesome week All!

Congrats to the Syracuse Orangemen on winning the Big East Championship.  They played some good basketball throughout the tourney.  The bench came through big time adding some points to help out but even more so by playing awesome defense shutting down UConn's offensive machine.  Lets keep it rolling for six more games now.  Next up is Vermont who looks to be a good challenge for us in the first game.  High Fives go to Watkins for playing some great defense this week end

3/11 - All city's continue to have total snowfall amounts over their yearly average to date.  More impressive is that all but Syracuse is over last years totals at this time.  Remember last year was a pretty heavy duty winter for most.  Syracuse would need a fast 30 inches to catch up to last years totals which isn't impossible but unlikely to happen.  Not much going on weather wise right now.

Tips and Tales of St Patty's Day Downtown

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

3/9 - Hey I finally called one right yesterday.  Albany stomped all of us setting a date record with 6.2 inches that went all the way back to the 1916 record of 5.9 inches.  Just think, we were part of history in the making.  Yea, I know, Big History!  I really need to get a life huh.  Ut Oh, I hope cabin fever isn't starting to set in???  Back to stats!  The normal dance continues with Binghamton and Buffalo with Binghamton slipping ahead again.  This is starting to be a daily routine with the two of them   Binghamton grabbed 2.7 of the new crap.  Yea, lets face it.  It's almost the middle of March and the pretty white stuff is just white crap that we have to keep shoveling pretty much everyday.  Oops, there I go thinking out loud again .  Back to stats .  Syracuse picked up 2.3 inches of the pretty white stuff to increase the lead to almost 20 inches over 2nd place Rochester.  There is  a Weather Advisory in effect for tonight and early tomorrow so check with your favorite weather source which should be us but seeing how we're clueless check someplace reliable to see what's ahead for tonight.  As always Drive Careful and remember Snow means Slow!

3/8 - Not a whole lot to report so far but once the stats are updated later in the day there could be some more shifting going on between Buffalo and Binghamton.  The recent snowfall overnight drop maybe a couple of inches in Syracuse and most likely a bit more in Binghamton.  Albany might be the winner of the day with snow falling there.

On another note - Every now and then I get to get out on the town for a soda pop or two .  Saturday I was fortunate to catch a decent band at the Beginning in Dewitt.  The band was "The J Project Band" which played a good mix of jazz, rhythm and blues and what they describe on their site as Funk - Jazz - Jam which I think was what got me swaying a little, OK so you could probably say I was dancing just don't tell my friends.  I have to admit that I listen mostly to Old Time Rock and Roll but the more I here R & B especially from a band who know how to play it the more I am starting to like it and these guys know how to do R & B right.  I was talking to one of the band members and co-founders and just talking to him you could see the passion he has for his music.  Anyways you can check them out at The Syracuse Suds Factory March 9th at 6:00 pm.  They have a website at  http://www.starpolish.com/artists/details.asp?ID=10078 where you can find out more on The J Project Band and their schedule.  A thanks goes out to the band for the great music the other night.  You can get a taste of their music at their website by the way.

3/6 - Nothing more than a couple tenths here and there for the Golden Snowball Award.  Buffalo is still hanging on to a slim lead over Binghamton and Syracuse is still leading the bunch now doubling last place Albany's total snowfall to date.  One thing I'm noticing when doing the updates is that the last several days last years totals aren't going up much which means this year were getting the snowfall when it was dry period last year at least snow wise anyways. 

As for the smaller contest I'm still looking for the stats on Watertown and Utica to post.  As for Oswego and Fulton Anthony has been giving me regular updates that I can keep posting.  Their totals keep going up with the Lake Effect snow that they have been receiving.  One interesting note is that Syracuse is keeping pace with Oswego so far this year which must be pretty unusual.  It is light snow here right now and doesn't look like it will add up to much.  Hey, Have a Great Week All.

3/4 - Syracuse is starting to slip away from Rochester again increasing the lead by about 15 inches now.  Lets go Rochester, time to do a snow dance or something.  The big fight seems to be between Buffalo and Binghamton right now.  Buffalo skied ahead of Rochester by a little under an inch.  Back and forth they go fighting for 3rd place.  So far this year Binghamton is almost 30 inches over their average and the same with Syracuse.  WTG!

Another big game coming up tomorrow for Syracuse against UConn.  It should be a good one.  I think it comes down to if Syracuse beats UConn and Boston loses to Rutgers it would be a 3 way tie for first place.  I'm not sure what would decide the tie breaker.  My guess is Boston would get the number 1 seed in the Big East Tourney for the fact that they beat SU twice and beat UConn once.  Either way if I were a betting man my money would be on Boston to grab the number 1 seed.  Another reason this game is big in my opinion is that a win over Connecticut and a decent showing in the Big East tournament could lock up a number 3 seed for the NCAA tourney which would be nice.  If SU could win from here on, who knows? A number 2 seed maybe for the NCAA.  Here's a good site for the Big East Stats -  http://www.bigeast.org/sports/mbball/  Anyways, Good Luck SU!!!

3/2 - Bring It On!!!  The snow continues to fall everyone.  Rochester chipped away a little on Syracuse's lead by gaining about 2.5 inches more from this last snowfall.  Binghamton is still holding on by a snowball over Buffalo and I'm still impressed with Albany's totals for this storm.  After doing the math these are the totals I came up with for the last 2 days from this storm and some Lake Effect snow.  Looking at the closing and delays it looks like the north might of gotten a good dumping overnight.  The Fulton and Oswego area.  I'm still trying to get some stats for Utica and Watertown so if there are any official spotters out there drop me an email.  I could use some help.

3/1 Evening Update - More stats to report that were updated at about 5:30 pm.  Albany has to be the most impressive out of the bunch setting a record on the date so far with another 7.9 to add for a total of 8.1 inches.  Remember it's Albany were talking about here!  Binghamton probably just as impressive with another 6.7 inches for a total of 10.9 making them the big winner so far for this storm.  Rochester added another 5.3 for a total of 8.6 , Buffalo another 4.6.  Then there was Syracuse, the weenie of the bunch for this one with a total of 6.9 so far showing.  HELLO Syracuse, your suppose to be the reigning champions here.  What kind of example was that to set???  It's still snowing so look for another update tomorrow

Storm Totals Since 5:30 pm 3/1

Binghamton = 10.9
Rochester = 8.6
Albany = 8.1
Buffalo = 8.0
Syracuse = 6.9

3/1 Early Morning Update - After coming close so many times it finally happened.  Binghamton has over taken Buffalo for 3rd place by 2/10 of an inch.  Binghamton has been hanging in 4th place for awhile now.  Stats that were reported for Syracuse and Binghamton at 12:30 am so they will have more snow to add later in the day with the next update on the NOAA website.  Binghamton had received a total of 4.2 inches by midnight, Buffalo at 5:30 this morning was reporting 3.4 inches, Rochester was at 3.3, Albany shows .02 and Syracuse a measly .05 inches reported at 12:30 am.  Depending on how the snow falls today it looks like Binghamton could be the winner for this last storm.  My guess is Syracuse will probably be second best.  Most of the snow in Syracuse started to fall about 1:30 am so they still have more snow to add to the totals.  Looking out the window I'm guessing about 5 - 6 inches of new snow is on the ground.  Look for a later day update as new stats become available.

2/28 - Look out the window tonight at Midnight and say goodbye to February and hello to March even though March will look just like February.  A winter storm warning is in effect for later today and tomorrow with heavy snowfall in the forecast.  Check your favorite weather channel for more info.

2/27 - Syracuse Breaks 100 Inch Mark and set a date record with 8.2 inches of the white stuff.  Wow is a good word to describe the way the snow came down for awhile in Syracuse yesterday.  At one point it looked like close to 3 inches and hour falling with a little wind to make it more fun.  My daughter had her first real experience driving in bad weather because Dad didn't notice it was snowing out when she went to work.  I'll have to look later to see if there are any indentations on the steering wheel from her gripping it so hard.  Of course she said it wasn't that bad.  Rochester is reporting 2.5 since early morning hours and not much elsewhere.  There still might be some stats to come in later in the day.

Looking at this years stats and last years it's starting to look like all the city's with the exception of Syracuse and even with them ya never know might have a shot at hitting last years totals.  A storm is possibly in the makes for sometime Monday and the totals could be impressive to say the least if it falls into place.  Just a reminder, take it slow and drive careful.  Hey, have a Great Week All!

2/26 - Not much other than a few tenths of snow here and there.  The golden snowball contest continues to stay close.  Word has it that something could be brewing come early next week.  If everything falls into place meaning all the systems pan out we could be looking at some significant snowfall coming soon.  You can read more in the forums.  Thanks once again Daver for keeping us updated.  Don't forget the Orangemen are on early today at noon on ESPN against Providence.     Have a Super Weekend All!

2/25 - Rochester once again inches their way back towards the top spot picking up and inch or so on Syracuse to be right around 8 inches away from over taking them.  Binghamton slowly but surely is gaining ground on Buffalo and of course there is Albany who I tend to forget about when I type for some reason.

Don't forget that the Winterfest is going on right now in Onondaga.  A ton of fun things to do and check out. Syracuse.com has a nice schedule of all the events.  Click here to check out what's happening in the at the Winterfest this weekend at Syracuse.com .

2/24 - Looking at last years stats on the snowfall graph today it hit me how lame the contest was last year.  At this time last year Syracuse was ahead of second place Rochester by over 50 inches of snow.  They were ahead of last place Albany by over 100 inches of snowfall.  That's an over 8 feet of snow difference.  This year the lead is less than 10 inches.  What a difference a year makes!

There's only a couple of days left to nominate a smaller city for the WoW Award so if you'd like to nominate your city that receives a lot of snow get it in soon.  $50.00 will go to a kids program in the winning city.  Snow continues to fall here in Da Cuse.  Right now it's a mix of sun, clouds, snow and wind.  It doesn't get any better than that.

2/23 - If you haven't stopped by the forum you should.  Our newest member is RocCity.  We finally have someone from Rochester to harass.  I'm joking, no harassing going on, just a little razzing   You can visit the forum at http://www.goldensnowball.com/phpBB/ .

2/22 - Syracuse is still continuing to widen the gap.  As it stands their total snowfall is 9 inches over second place Rochester.  Right now at about 9 pm it's a light snow outside and I don't think more than an inch or 2 is expected.  Look at Buffalo's stats.   Maybe we need to come up with a Most Consistent Award for them.  There is still a lot of time left and some of the biggest storms have come in March so it's still anyone's race.

2/21 - Blame the snowfall on me???  Ever since I was quoted back in early January as saying what a dud of a winter the snow has continued to fall.  Back then most of the city's were way under their normal snowfall on the year.  Since then Albany and Buffalo are having a normal snowfall season.  Syracuse, Rochester and Binghamton are all above the normal season snowfall to date.  Binghamton is over a foot of snow ahead of the normal season snowfall total.  So it officially isn't a dud of a winter anymore   Syracuse continues to pad their snow totals to almost 7 inches over Rochester now.  They more than doubled Albany's total snowfall who we can all pretty much say is no longer in the hunt for the golden snowball trophy at only 44.6 inches.  They did hang in there for awhile though.  All the others still have a chance.  Hey, have a Great Week All!

2/18 - Syracuse was the winner with this last little storm that past by picking up about 6 inches when all was said and done.  Binghamton was able to close the growing gap on Buffalo a little bit and Rochester just down right dropped the ball.  A warning to Rochester, don't give Syracuse too much room this late in the season or you'll be needing a lot of to catch up.  A member in the forum Daver says we may be getting another 3 - 5 sometime soon so look for some more changes real soon.  A nice sunny day so far today.  Feel free to drop by the forum at http://www.goldensnowball.com/phpBB/ and join in on the discussions.

2/17 - How many times so far this year have I said what a great contest it is this year.  Well it just got even better.  Finally a tie for first place.  Yup Rochester and Syracuse in a deadlock for first place.  This far in the season and this close.  Gotta love it!!!  I know I do.  It could get even better.  Buffalo decided they want to play again and have been slowly closing the gap on the top two cities.  Even Binghamton has been holding their own and with the snow expected tonight and tomorrow they might be the big winners for this storm.

Once again I apologize for a lack of updates.  One of my kids had to have major surgery.  Ok, I suppose having your tonsils out isn't major surgery but when your a parent you always worry when something comes up with the little ones.  Alright, so she's going to be 18 years old next month but aren't they always the little ones to us   Stay tuned for some changes in the snow totals as the stats roll in tomorrow.

2/15 - Albany was the snowfall king for the day yesterday with .2 inches of snow.  Go figure!  Binghamton picked up a tenth and that was it.  Another nice day outside but things are expected to change the next few days with snow in the forecast.  Once again after a nice snowfall over the weekend it rained and the grass is showing again.  Not for long though ; )

2/14 - Only a few 10ths of snow here and there since last update.  No changes in the lineup though.  Supposedly there is freezing rain going on so drive carefully.  Right here in Syracuse nothing all morning and it's just starting to rain.  Nothing freezing though.

I hope you all have a Happy St. Valentines Day!  I hope none of you Gents forgot the day.  If so you better make a stop on the way home.  When considering the advice below, keep in mind I haven't had a Valentine in a couple of years most likely because I follow my own advice

Suggestions (All the below should come with a well thought out card or better yet a Romantic letter);

Flowers - most women love flowers and Roses always seem to be a big winner!

Chocolates - although I heard some women think that is too easy to go out and get but at least it's something.

Dinner Out - It's always nice to get out.  Leave the kids home if you have any.  At the least bring dinner home.

Perfume - Only if your women wears perfume otherwise it could be taken a different way.  Hey you know how women can be.  Damned if you do damned if you don't   Ladies no emails please, I'm joking really I am

Jewelry - Probably my number one pick.  A nice piece of jewelry is a cannot miss gift.

Suggestions Not to Give;

A New Mop - Trust me on this one, it won't be used on the floor but somewhere else.

Anything to do with Cleaning - Read above!!!

Perfume - Unless she wears it - Again read above!!!

Sexy Lingerie - The gift is suppose to be for her not you   (Given with a Suggested gift above however it could work out well ) 

 BTW if anyone's wondering what to get me, a six pack of Bud and a Steak always wins my heart over.  Hey, I'm easy, what can I say.  Have a Great Valentines All!

2/13 - Move over Rochester, Da Cuse is in the house.  After the new snowfall totals from yesterday Syracuse was finally able to sled into first place.  Rochester had been able to fend off the defending champions for quite some time.  It's still a really close contest with pretty much four cities in the race.  Syracuse is only ahead by less than an inch and a half and the others within a foot of the top spot.  One Nor' Eastern and things could change fast.  I have a feeling Rochester isn't going to take this sitting down.  Rumor has it that people have been seen outside with their snow shovels doing some kind of ritual snow dance.  Just a rumor and it hasn't been confirmed yet

2/11 - It looks like all the stats are up to date now.  Rochester stays in the lead but Syracuse has closed the gap a little being less than 2 inches behind Rochester now.  It looks like it will be tight to the end.  The BIG question is can Rochester hold off the others for another couple of month or so?  Buffalo increased they're lead over Binghamton to almost 3 inches.  They were only separated by a couple of tenths before this last snowfall.  Right now it's sunny and Gorgeous outside.  The sky seems is blue as can be.  It looks bluer than normal as a matter of fact.  I wonder if that is possible.  I might have to read up on that.  Hey, Have a Super Weekend All!

2/10 - Some of the new totals have come in but look for a later day update once more stats are reported.  Rochester so far is showing 3.1 inches of new snow, Buffalo so far is showing 2.9 inches of the new white stuff, Syracuse only .9 inches which will go up with a new update and so far nothing for the others.  Here in Da Cuse it looks like about 3 - 4 inches of fresh snow on the ground.  One thing about this new snow is it is HEAVY!  I went to shovel a path and man is it heavy snow.  The heaviest of the year here.  I'll be tracking one of my kids down to shovel this time.

This weekend or sooner I'll try to get it together and also get some stats on the WOW contest for the smaller city's.  I talked with Meteorologist Anthony Corsoniti who said he would be more than happy to help out with some of the stats.  He has a website with a lot of great stats for the Fulton area, pictures and more.  He's showing 80.1 inches of snow so far for Fulton which I believe was before this new snowfall.   You can check out Anthony's weather website and Fulton's stats HERE.

2/9 - Snow is in The Air!  Not yet but soon. The forecast is calling for snow today and tomorrow.  It's about time, my eyes were starting to burn with all that brightness.  After all that sun the last week or so and all the rain yesterday the grass is showing again.  Come on it's February!  It's suppose to be snowing not raining.  It was a nice little tease though as to what's coming up in a month or two (Three or Four).  Anyways a couple of forecasts are calling for up to 5 - 9 inches of fresh snowfall maybe more by the time this storm is over by Thursday night.  Hopefully it will hold off until your ride home from work today.  Check with your local weather stations for more accurate info.  I'm about as good at predicting weather as I am at picking Super Bowl winners.

How much am I suppose to take in a single weekend.  SU loses and then The Eagles.  So much for my prediction on Philly by 13 huh.  Enough said

2/6 - Another Gorgeous day here in Syracuse.  Sunny and bright blue skies.  Nothing new to report on stats so I get to rant and rave

Another good come from behind for the Orangemen against the Fighting Irish last night.  Man how I love the Big East.  It really doesn't get anymore exciting then Big East conference play.   Miami who?  Who needs them?  I'm starting to be a believer in Josh Pace now and that left handed driving shot of his.  Sure Gerry McNamara and Hakim Warrick made a difference as usual in the game but I hate to tell you all, Pace 2 or 3 times led a comeback charge with his left handed whatever you might call it (floater?) to keep the fans on their feet.  For some reason no articles seem to give any credit to him so I will.  Way To Go Josh   One other thing!  If I said it once I've said it 100 times.  Coach B, put a couple guys on the inbounds and take a few seconds off when you have a 2 shot lead.  The seconds ticking off adds up.  Just my opinion of course

Is Donovan going to finally do it today?  Can he finally pull off a Big game?  You bet he can and he will.  Today the Eagles will win by 13 pts.  You heard it here first.  I think back to the past when McNabb always seemed to come up short for the big games.  Even in College.  Not this time.  His confidence has finally matched his skills this year.  Just watching him on the field and off you can see he has it this year.  No doubt the Eagles will prevail today.  GO EAGLES!!!   BTW shouldn't Monday be some kind of Holiday?  I believe I once read that the Monday following the Super Bowl is the day for the highest number of people calling in sick to work.

2/4 - Hey Rochester, Enough already.  Give the rest of us a chance.  They picked up another snowflake or two to and to their total.  Not much only a few tenths of an inch but enough to increase the lead over the rest of the cities.  I might have to do another snow dance soon to keep this contest exciting.  I think it worked the last time.  I'll wait until after the weekend though which is suppose to be sunny and 40's.

For those in Syracuse, don't forget to get up to the Carrier Dome to help set the on campus record for total attendance.  It should be a pretty good game against ND.  Lets hope Da Cuse has a statement to make after the loss to Pitt.  I tell ya these games are spaced to far apart for my liking.  A game every 3 days would work fine for me.  Good luck SU and good luck setting the attendance record.  YOU CAN DO IT, the little gymnast did   Hey have a Great Super Bowl weekend all!

2/3 - I might have to go shopping for some new sunglasses if this weather keeps up.  Gotta like it though.  Still snow on the ground, it's not raining and the temps are finally more like normal for this time of the year.  Of course what is normal in NY?  I'm missing the snowfall though so Bring It On!!!

It looks like the shaved head idea is a flop this year : (  No nominations coming in for what I thought was a good idea.  Maybe I can talk one of my down the street neighbors Dick Gilkey or better yet his wife Carol into volunteering to shave their head for charity.  That won't work, they run away from winter each year to Georgia. I'll have to file that idea with the other bad ideas I've come up with in my lifetime.  Might be a little hard to find some room for it though   

2/1 - Sorry about the lack of updates but there wasn't anything new to update other than last years stats.  Rochester still holds on to the lead and nothing but Sunshine in the forecast.  I wish the sun would hurry up and melt the icicles that are hanging from the house.  At least their not touching the ground anymore.

Has anyone noticed that I seem to go missing in action after Syracuse loses a game.  They didn't seem to play as much teamwork it looked like against Pittsburg.  I suppose they were do for a loss.  They still rock big time.  Actually I have some other sites that I have been neglecting lately and if I want to eat I need to pay a little more attention to them.  Their the sites that pay my bills.  I also wasn't too crazy about the free forum I was using and decided to try to install another one.  It's up and running and seems to even be working   Give me some time to do a little more work on it and I'm sure I can screw it up somehow.   Have a Great week all and check out the new forum at http://www.goldensnowball.com/phpBB/

HELP WANTED!!!  Errr, that's free help wanted I mean.  I want to get a thread going in the forum where people can post as to what the weather is doing in their neck of the woods.  If I can get some visitors to maybe stop by once a day or so from all over the area and just make a quick post as to how the weather is in their area would be great.  Something like  a "Hi, this is Elvis and right now it's snowing like crazy, looks like about 8 inches so far".  That way we can all get an idea as to how the weather is going.  Any thoughts or ideas are always appreciated.  Just either go to the Forum Here  or drop me an email if interested at comments@goldensnowball.com  Thanks All.

1/29 - Nothing but the last couple of days.  The temps are rising fast today.  It's gone up almost 20 degrees in the last couple of hours and I have to admit I'm ready for some 30 degree days instead of the sub zero temperatures . 

On another note is anyone else going through S.U. withdrawal?    Jeeze it's been a long week since Mondays game.  SU -vs- Pitt tonight and it should be a good one.  Go Orangemen!

1/28 - Not a lot to report since last update.  Rochester added a couple 2/10 to cushion their lead and some how I missed updating Albany the last time.  They added several more inches to their total snowfall.  Another sunny day in Da Cuse and we could be hitting the 30's this weekend.  Woooo Hooo!  Bring it on.

We've had a couple of people nominate some city's for the WOW contest.  Mathew and Meteorologist Tony C. have both nominated Fulton and Oswego for the contest so they will both be entered into the contest.  Tony also offered to help out with the totals which I will be jumping on the offer in a heartbeat .  So far as of yesterday he has the totals as follows - Fulton 80.1 and Oswego - 74.5 .  Thanks Tony and Mathew for the nominations.  If you would like to nominate a small city for the contest send me an email at comments@goldensnowball.com and we will see if we can add them in.  Have a Great Weekend All.

1/27 - Well that was a short lived spot on the top for Syracuse.  Rochester does it again and skates into first place by a couple of inches.  Binghamton is knocking on Buffalo's door for third place but buffalo doesn't want to open the door and let them in.  They hold on to third by a tenth of an inch.  Albany, enough said

Skip from the Golden Snowball forum posted that Binghamton set a record for January total snowfall yesterday.  Their total as it stands is at 45.9 so far for January and the old record was 43.6 inches set in 1987.  Thanks for the info Skip.  All of the cities are now over their average snowfall for the season so far with Rochester and Binghamton way ahead of their average.  Just think, it wasn't even a month ago when we were all way below the average totals.   What a January it's been.  One nice thing about January is that the sun has shined quite a few times compared with December.  I think I would rather have the cold than the warm air and the rain.  People seem to be in better moods lately .

1/26 - Da Cuse is in the house Baby.  Ooops, I'm thinking out loud again, I'm not suppose to be showing any favoritism    Syracuse moves to the top in an attempt to retain it's championship title.  Rochester slides down to second only 6/10's behind and no changes for the rest of the snow pack.  I think this year shows the excitement that this race use to have in the past unlike last year which was a walk away for Syracuse with little excitement.  I think it all comes down to bragging rights.  Lets hope the contest stays close till the end.  When does it stop snowing here, Fathers Day isn't it

If you missed it we posted a Brilliant Idea yesterday.  Click Here to check it out!  Ok, maybe brilliant is a bit strong but it should be fun so lets get it going by nominating someone from your city.  On another note Sean Kirst of the Post Standard just put out an article with some good facts on the Golden Snowball Award which can be seen Here.  No plug for the website this time.  I think it might of had something to do with me trying to nominate him for the shaven head contest in which he politely declined.  Something to do with an expensive hair piece or something like that.  Anyways send your nominations to comments@goldensnowball.com .

1/25 - Rochester is hanging on to the lead by a few snowflakes after this last update from yesterday.  Syracuse grabbed just under 4 inches with possibly more to still be reported.  Buffalo didn't like being in 4th place and jumped up to 3rd but that will be short lived once Binghamton's totals come in later in the day.  Albany, never mind them.  I don't think they will be much of a threat although I have to admit I was impressed they stayed in the race as long as they did.  Of course a nor' eastern could put them right back into it if it stays farther to the east than the rest of us.

Jeeesh what a game last night.  For those of you who didn't watch the Orangemen squeaked by another win in Big East play.  I love the way they are playing as a team and the full court press was unbelievable right after the half to pull off a big come from behind victory.  One question I had was with just over 3 seconds left and Rutgers taking the ball out, SU up by 2 points, Do you foul???  I know Rutgers was hot from the free throw line but do you give them the chance to win the game with a 3 pointer which almost happened?  I personally would of put them on the line with the most that could happen would be overtime.  Either way, they won and a win is a win and a big WTG Syracuse.  No doubt Jimmy is one of the best coaches in the game of basketball

1/24 - The total stats are all up to date as of this morning now.  What a difference a day makes!  Buffalo has gone from being in 1st place all the way down to 4th place.  Rochester made out HUGE with this last storm jumping into 1st place with a 3 1/2 inch lead over Da Cuse with an approx amt of 16 inches from the 2005 storm.  The totals from the storm below are give or take a little but still pretty impressive.  Hopefully this will be a race to the finish.  Have a Super week all!

1/24 - The stats have been updated from the storm and it looks like Rochester kicked some major butt to leap to the front of the golden snowball race. Buffalo's stats look a little funny, a little on the low side so I'll wait and see if there are any changes for them.  So far here is what it comes out to for storm totals and leftovers if my fuzzy math is right and it's early morning so there is a good chance it isn't ; ) 

Rochester  16.3 - Wow and Awesome
Syracuse  13.2
Binghamton  12.8
Albany  11.5
Buffalo  7.6 - HUH?

I'll post more a little later in the morning.  Overall everyone seemed to range in the 11 - 16 inch range give or take a bit.  Stay Tuned!

1/23 - One word comes to mind, AWESOME!!!  All the new stats are just coming in and are temporary.  Most are just from the 22nd and even then they may be on the low side.  Syracuse set a date record with 11.8 inches showing and moved into first place for now anyways.  Chances are once Buffalo's final numbers come in they may bounce back, maybe even Rochester.  Buffalo set a record for snowfall on the date with 6.7 inches.  That record dates back to 1910   Albany with a Whopping 6.7 inches of snowfall reported and Binghamton still isn't giving any totals so I added 7 inches to their stats for now.  That will change along with the rest of the stats once the over night totals come in later in the day.  The city of Syracuse actually measured over 14 inches of snow but the official measurement comes from Hancock Airport which received less snow than the city and where I am at. I measured right around 13 inches in a low spot not counting the overnight snowfall.

I went out to shovel the first time last night and it was pretty cold with the wind but really just so peaceful, not a lot of traffic and no one was out.  It was really nice   Then the second time I went out to shovel the wind had died down completely and it was actually pretty comfortable outside, how enjoyable   The third fricking time, yes third time I went out to shovel, or should I say crawled out to shovel because by then my back was shot it was like I never even shoveled the first 2 times and it was freezing again with the wind whipping around.  It was one of them swirling winds, you know the kind that no matter which way you throw the snow it's coming back at your face   Hmmmm, wasn't I the one who was quoted in the paper as saying this was a Dud of a Winter Did I mention the third time I shoveled I cleaned the car off and started it up to warm up the car and clean the windshield.  It kind of sucked when I got in bed and just got warm and then remembered the car was still running ( place idiot smiley face here).  All in fun though and I really do enjoy all the snow.  Bring it on, More, More, Have a Great Day All and look for a later day update.

1/22 - Just a quick late night update with some new stats that came in at 5:00 PM.  Syracuse so far is showing 4.8 inches of great new snow, Buffalo's new snowfall so far is 6.2 , Rochester's is 3.2  and no report from Binghamton but after talking with Coaster and Skip in the forums a good guess would be close to 4 - 5 inches around 5:00 PM.  Thanks for the updates guys I just measure the snow here in a low spot and show an unofficial 10 inches of new snow in the Syracuse area so far.  It's been non stop since just after noon and right now is a steady light snow falling.  The totals should be awesome tomorrow.  Have a great night all and drive careful, it is slick out there.!

1/22 - A Winter Storm Warning is in effect for a good part of New York until Sunday.  Check your local news and weather for updates.  Up to and over a foot of snow will be falling in some locations plus it's still going to be Cold and the snow will be blowing so stay home watch some basketball and relax.  You will have some shoveling out to do tomorrow.  As for the contest, it's been back and forth lately with a battle between Syracuse and Rochester for 2nd place.  Rochester with a little under an inch moved back into second.  With the new storm approaching it will be interesting to see who snowmobiles into first tomorrow.  Will Buffalo be able to hold the competition off???  I'll try to post a later day or night update if stats become available.  If you find the time, give us some posts in the forum as to how your making out with the snow and a guess at some of the totals today and tonight.  I'll be going to a snow party where we will be playing dice and sipping COCKTAILS I mean soda pops

1/21 - After all was done and the snowfall added up since last update Buffalo still holds the lead.  Syracuse sledded into second place ahead of Rochester by 3 tenths of an inch.  Man this is gonna be close til the end I think.  I was reading an article at the Buffalonews.com website that Steve McLaughlin says that Lake Erie is starting to freeze over so that could spell bad news for Buffalo's snowfall totals ( or good news depending how you look at it ).  Steve was saying that once the lake freezes over that most likely snow totals won't be anywhere near what they are before the freeze.  Good news for the rest of us

 It's Minus 10 degrees as I am typing.  Most schools are closed for the day because of the cold.  Keep the kids inside today.  When it gets this cold it doesn't take long for frost bite to set in where skin is exposed.  More on that great idea that I had the other day soon

1/20 - What a gorgeous day yesterday was huh?  A good dumping of the white stuff for almost everyone.  Look for the stats to change again a little later once the latest stats get put up on NOAA.  Syracuse and Binghamton should have at least a couple of more inches to report.  As it stands right now though Binghamton picked up 4.5 inches so far, Buffalo had 4.6 , Rochester had 3.6 and Syracuse so far has had 5.1 inches of the white crap.  Note that the last reports for Syracuse and Binghamton were at 12:43 am so their totals should be going up a bit seeing how when I looked outside early this morning there was probably another couple of inches that fell over night.  The other cities totals for this last storm were posted on NOAA's site around 5:40 this morning.  Stay tuned for an early evening new update.  I suppose I should go shovel

Happy Birthday goes out to my oldest son Shane who attends Oneonta College.  Jeeeze, nothing like having a bunch of birthdays right after the holidays.  Have a Great Day Shane!

1/19 - Still neck and neck in The Great Golden Snowball Race.  Rochester is now within an inch of Buffalo and Albany is starting to lose ground now.  One good Nr' Eastern and who knows what could happen.

On another note I have been doing some thinking lately.  Yea I know, your all thinking Ut Oh I have a great idea if we and I mean WE can get it to work.  Something to make the contest a little more exciting.  More to about it a little later.  For now lets just say we will need to get a volunteer from each city.  I'm thinking perhaps a Mayor from each city or a popular journalist ( Be worried Sean, Be very worried ) or your favorite weatherman.

1/18 - After all stats were in after yesterdays snowfall Rochester kicked some butt with almost 5 inches of snow to leap ahead of Syracuse and move within a couple of inches to top spot for the crappiest weather of the season.  WTG Rochester!!!  As for today one word says it all, cold, Cold, COLD, COLD!!!  Ok that's 4 words but I think you get my point.  More of the same until later tomorrow. Brrrrr

1/17 - Buffalo grabbed a couple more inches to stay in the lead for now.  Rochester is showing about 3 1/2 inches of new snowfall, even Albany picked up over an inch.  Look for Binghamton and Syracuse's total to go up once the stats are updated later today by Noaa.  Their last update was at about 12:30 am today which wouldn't of included about 2 more inches or so.  Right now that UFO is back and shining bright here in Da Cuse.  I'm hoping it will melt the snow in the driveway but most likely I will have to shovel.  This will be only the 4th time so far this winter shoveling.  Unbelievable if you ask me.  Yea, I know, ya didn't ask   Have a Great Week All!

1/16 - Another day of nothing to report in the Winter that wasn't   I did see something yesterday though.  The SUN!  At least I think it was the sun.  I'm pretty sure it was but it's been so long since the rays have shined that I have forgotten what it actually looks like.  Hey did you notice the graph that I made?  It only took me about 3 hours to figure out how to do it.  I really need to explore some of the stuff that is on my computer and learn it.  Anyways, what I think is pretty cool about it is that it really shows the difference in total snowfall from this year compared to last year at this time.

1/14/05 PM - I figured I would throw up a special evening update because some new stats came out a little while ago with the snowfall for today included.  Binghamton picked up over 3 inches to go ahead of Rochester for the season total.  Syracuse and Buffalo both had over an inch and the rest just a few tenths of an inch.  Ummm, this really is pitiful when it comes down to us measuring by inches and not feet.  It might be time to break out the golden snowball snow dance ritual pretty soon

1/14 - No changes in the snow totals posted yet but there will be changes.  Most of our stats come from the NOAA weather service.  Once they post them we gather them and post them here.  It looks like here in Syracuse there is about 1 -2 on the ground right now with a really light snowfall happening.  I hope you all enjoyed yesterday because we are back to reality probably for awhile now.  There was about a 32 degree drop in the temp in the last 12 hours or so

Another story came out about the Golden Snowball Award   This article was written by another great journalist William Kates of the Associated Press and can be found at Here at Newsday.com

1/13 - Nothing to report once again but that could be changing in the next day or so with the possibility of some lake effect snow over the weekend.

Right now it's 11:30 PM Thursday night and the temperature outside is 64 degrees and still windy.  A news report just said Fulton's temp has dropped 14 degrees in the last half hour so it looks like the cold front will be hitting us any time now.  They said the possibility of thunder and lightning, then went on to say rain changing to snow.  Jeeez, talk about another wacky winter in New York State.

1/12 - Almost 2 inches of new snow for Binghamton to report.  Buffalo grabbed almost an inch of snow since last update and the other cities picked up just a few tenths.  Albany had just a trace!

OK, I'm sure most of you have noticed that I redid the color scheme on the golden snowball website.  The polls were showing when I last checked that over a third of our visitors didn't like the colors.  As a matter of fact they were getting a headache from the colors    So it came down to either throwing up an Extra Strength Tylenol add and try to make a few bucks off the site or change the colors.  As you can see I decided to stay poor and made a color change.  Being a little color blind (an excuse I use when I go out and I'm told my clothes don't match when I thought they looked pretty good) I'm assuming that the new color theme is a little easier to take on the eyes.  I'll throw up a new poll question in the next day or so to see how badly I did this time with the colors

1/11 - Still nothing to report other than a tenth of an inch for Syracuse.  It's coming down lightly right now in DaCuse.  According to the weather forecasts it looks like it will get pretty warm come Thursday and then we're in for a cold spell for at least a few days.  Could be a good chance for Buffalo and Rochester to gain some ground on the rest of us.

A BIG Welcome to DaCuse goes out to our new football coach.  Welcome to Syracuse Coach Robinson.  Hopefully you will put some excitement back into our offense and plug up the holes that need plugging in the defense.  Also a big congrats to coach Boeheim on his 300 Big East Victory last night against the Fighting Irish.  Another good win and come from behind victory.  GO SU!!!

1/10 - This years contest has officially started now.  The first article about this years competition hit the papers this morning here in Syracuse.  Another great piece by the multi award winning journalist Sean Kirst at the Post Standard.  Can it be anything but great if it's about The Golden Snowball Award.  It's probably a Pulitzer Prize winning article and I bet the person that submits it to the nominating process will be Dennis Brogan who we all know just loves this contest, NOT.

For some reason I have the feeling that it's not good PR for a community to brag about how much snow they receive annually.  Most people don't want to live or work in a place where they have to drive in the white crap, shovel it, deal with the ice buildup on the roofs, the rust on the cars from the salt and bla, bla, bla.  But in my opinion the city officials are going about it the wrong way.  They should be promoting the great winters we have.  Instead of having the Pyramid co. build build Destiny USA around the mall they should be building a mountain.  Yup a mountain for skiers and snowboarders.  Hey, you have to work with what you have to work with and lets face it, normally we have lots of snow to work with.  So why not???  Here's why not. By the time the mountain project gets approved, then by the time the hotels get built (of course everyone knows you have to build hotels first), then figure the time it will take to build the mountain and ski resorts,  by then global warming will be setting in and we probably won't be getting any more snow here in Syracuse.  California will be getting it all.  Hmmmm, maybe our city officials do know what their doing  .  I guess my point is that this contest is just a fun thing for bragging rights to help pass the winter months away.  Have fun with it.  You can read Sean Kirst's article HERE and Sean's home on the web is HERE!  Thanks Sean for the great article, it's always appreciated.

1/9 - The updates from the last little storm are posted now.  Who would of thought that 9 days into January Albany would still be in the race for the Golden Snowball Award  ???  I sure didn't!  They picked up over 5 inches yesterday,  Rochester's snowfall was just under 5 inches to move a little closer to second place,  Syracuse received 3.5 inches, Binghamton and Buffalo were a little over 2 inches of the white crap. 
What a contest it's turning out to be this year .  We are into January and the last place city is less than 10 inches out of the lead 

1/8 - Snow everywhere but still no updates posted seeing how it is still snowing out.  Look for an update later this evening when the snow starts tapering off a bit and the weather service posts some new stats.  It should be interesting to see who is getting the most snow right now.  Here in Syracuse it looks like about 3 - 5 inches of new snowfall so far with another small blast going on right now.

1/7 - No changes since we last updated last night.  So A Big Happy Birthday goes out to my son Christopher today who turns 16   Ut Oh, why am I clapping, he is old enough to drive now and should be bugging me anytime to go get his permit   The battle will begin when I tell him to wait until after winter.  Hmmmm, what winter???

1/6 - Every city picked up several inches but still no change in the lineup.  Buffalo continues to beat out the rest of the bunch.  Rochester and Binghamton are running neck to neck with only a few tenths of an inch of snowfall separating them.  There is a good chance that the lineup could change come tomorrow.  Remember, "Snow means Slow".

1/4 - I hope everyone is off to a good start for the New Year.  Still nothing to report, go figure.  Here we are a few days into January and the grass is still showing.  I wonder if it's to late to do my fall grass seeding?  One thing that is definitely getting old though is the dark gloomy days.  Where the hell is the sun???  At least with snow on the ground it is bright outside   On a good note we are gaining a minute each day of daylight time even though with the clouds it looks like nighttime most of the time.  Enjoy the rest of the week, snow may be in the forecast soon.

12/31 - Nothing to update so have a Happy New Year everyone and get a designated driver or take a taxi tonight if your out celebrating.  Enjoy!!!

12/29 - Rochester picked up an inch and a half yesterday and gained an inch on Syracuse and the rest.  Albany even picked up a little more snow.  The Golden Snowball Award is up for grabs this year as we approach January when anything can happen.

On another note, it was just announced that Syracuse coach Paul  Pasqualoni has been fired or let go.  I guess I have mixed feeling on his departure.  No doubt coach P is a super guy and individual but I also feel SU needs to regroup and move on.  My only hope is that SU doesn't hire within and brings us a top notch coach to take coach Paqualoni's place.  My sincere Best Wishes to Coach P and his family who have been a big part of our community.

12/28 - Great news all!  Something is getting done in the State Capital finally.  Shoveling .  Albany grabbed over 5 inches since the last update to more than double their total snowfall for the winter season.  Gotta love it!  Rochester picked up over a couple more inches of the white stuff moving a little closer to DaCuse.  It's just starting to snow a little bit here in Syracuse but nothing heavy so far.  Have a great week all!

12/27 - BUFFALO ROCKS!!!  Sorry about the lack of updates   Wow, was I surprised today when I saw how much snow Buffalo received on Christmas Eve Day.  12 inches!!!  Yup a foot of new snow to jump into the lead and make the rest of us look like a bunch of wimps.  Syracuse who???  Rochester picked up several inches which dropped previously second place Binghamton all the way down to next to last place 4th.  Here in most of Syracuse saw a green Christmas   A lot of rain with the last storm and that was about it. 
Like I said in a previous post, this should be a Great contest this year

12/23 - Buffalo and Rochester were the only 2 to pick up some snow.  Both picking up a little over an inch and both city's moving closer to Binghamton and Syracuse.  This will be a great competition this year and I personally don't see any city running away with it.  Still early but that is my prediction for the winter season.  Snow is in the forecast so look for some new snow amounts to be posted as we get them.  Right now with the rain and the wind the grass is showing with no snow in site on the ground here in Syracuse.  I'm hoping that everyone will get to where they need to get to for the Holidays and then we can get some of the white stuff on the ground for Christmas Eve.  Enjoy All and Happy Holidays

12/22 - Nothing to really report other than Syracuse hit the 20 inch mark since last updated.  The next couple of days should be interesting as to whether we get more rain than snow.  I'm still hoping for a White Christmas and if the forecasts hold true we should be getting some snow after the rain.  I think the vote whether to keep the "let it Snow" song on the web is heading towards getting the thumbs down.  To be honest with you all,  having to work on this site I am kind of getting sick of it myself so say Buh Bye to it   It should also help the page load a bit faster.

12/20 - Can You Say Cold   It's been below zero most of the morning so far.  A town up north hit -39 degrees with the wind chill this morning at about 6:am so I suppose we don't have it to bad.  Buffalo is only 5/10ths of an inch from catching Rochester for 3rd place, Binghamton is over a foot of snow on the year and doing pretty good at keeping up with Syracuse who is approaching the 2 foot mark and Albany is, well Albany is looking out for the state legislators to make sure they can get to work to get something done.  Yea, that will happen when pigs learn to fly or better yet when Albany wins the Golden Snowball Award   Dress warm today the temps will be rising over night.

12/19 - It looks like Buffalo has decided to get into the contest again.  They picked up over a couple of inches since the last update.  Syracuse so far is showing over an inch of new snow and the rest picked up a little more.  It's still snowing off and on here in Syracuse so most of us will probably see some new Golden Snowball totals tomorrow.  Have a Great week all and drive careful.

12/17 -  Just a few tenths of snow here and there since the last update.  There are no changes in the in the line up of cities as far as totals go.  There should be some total changes in the next update.  It snowed a good part of the day in Syracuse today but not too much as far as accumulating on the ground.  On a Bright side it is really starting to look like it will be a White Christmas this year.  Snow is in the forecast for most of next week so we will see how that pans out.  Hey, Have a Super Weekend All.  Best get your shopping done, only 8 days until Christmas

12/15 - Ask and we shall receive .  Syracuse received a total of 7.5 inches of snow yesterday to spring (which is right around the corner ) into the lead and distancing themselves from the rest of the pack.  Ok, I know it is just starting and Binghamton is sticking to Syracuse like the snow is sticking to the ground.  Rochester which picked up 2.0 inches will be right in the hunt for the Golden Snowball Award again this year.  Albany was the only city that didn't get much of anything but a few more promises from the state legislatures.  I got the shoveling done last night and to be honest I love shoveling at night when it's all peaceful and no one is around.  Normally after a few times of shoveling though I'll be mumbling to myself enough of this crap with a few censored words thrown in there.  But for now, it's beautiful outside, bright for a change and a fresh crisp air tops it all off.  If only the feeling and excitement of the first real snowfall would last all winter long, winter would be a breeze .

12/14 - Nightly Update - I figured with all the new snow today I would do another update tonight.  Syracuse has grabbed another 4.1 inches of snow so far today to jump back in the lead.  Binghamton held it for several hours though   The latest stats were as of about 5:30 PM form the weather sites which means come tomorrow there will be more snow to add up.  It's still snowing here in DaCuse and hasn't stopped for several hours now.  Not a heavy snowfall but a good and steady one.  The decorations outside are finally starting to shine and look pretty with the soft layer of snow on the ground and on the roof.  Another thing to look at is the snow totals from last year on this date jumped big time for a few cities.  Almost 15 inches for Syracuse last year to set a record for the date.  Binghamton last year on the date grabbed over 11 inches with all the others getting dumped on also last year.  Anyways, as the song plays on "Let it Snow" and remember Snow Means Slow!  Drive careful all!

12/14 - WOW!!! Way to go Binghamton for being the first city to get into the double digit figures this season.  They picked up over 3 inches of snow as of last night.  Most of the totals are from early this morning so there will definitely be some more changes once the stats come in.  Rochester picked up just over an inch and here in Syracuse there is at least a couple of inches on the ground right now.  It's finally beginning to look a lot like Christmas

12/13 - What happened to the snow?  A few cities picked up just a little bit of snowfall since the last update.  The way most of the weather reports were reporting everything was pointing to a decent amount of snow for most of us.  It was kind of a let down to wake up with nothing on the ground here.  Only 12 days until Christmas and the grass is still as green as can be.  Jeeze, I hope I don't have to break out the lawnmower again

12/12 - There was a little bit of a change in total snowfall overnight with probably more changes to come tomorrow.  A couple of inches more are in the forecast for the overnight hours.  It's pretty cloudy here in DaCuse so I wouldn't be surprised if some snow starts falling anytime now.  I suppose we have been lucky so far as compared to last years snow totals.  Most of us are still a foot or more off last years pace.  I agree with Thumpr though, (See Forum) it's about time to get some snow on the ground to get in the mood for the Holidays

12/6 - Evening update tonight.  It looks like Syracuse has taken the lead over from Binghamton picking up a couple of inches in the last 24 hours or so.  The totals should change most likely by tomorrow though.  A note of interest is that on today's date last year we were all getting quite a bit of snow also.  Like close to a foot of snow   I guess we are still lucking out this year.  Have a Great work week all !

12/6 - IT'S SNOWING!  Snow is everywhere! On the cars, the ground is and it's sticking.  A light snow right now in Syracuse but the side streets are covered with the white stuff.  Plows are about bringing dropping salt and it shouldn't be too long before the first car of the year ends up in our front lawn because of taking the corner too fast   Last year I think it was a total of 7 or so cars that ended up in the yard with the first one promising to come back in the spring and fix the tire marks.  He must have of forgotten though   Anyways, there should be an update once the totals are finished either later tonight or early tomorrow.  Stay tuned it should be interesting to see if Binghamton can hold on to the lead.

12/4 - Way to go Buffalo!!!  Inches their way out of last place to pull ahead of Albany.  Binghamton is still holding off Syracuse and Rochester for first place.  How long will it last?  I really do think this year is going to be a super close race right down to the finish between Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester and even Binghamton with the Nor'easters maybe in play this year more so than last.  Syracuse is already off over a foot of snow from last year.  Hey, have a Great weekend all

11/30 - Look at last years stats!  Something I noticed today when doing the stats is that all of us except for Albany is below last years stats at this time.  Syracuse is way under the 10.5 inches received this time of the year last year.  Last year on yesterdays date we were all getting some snow.  Could this end up being a mediocre winter ?

11/29 - Nothing new to report as for CNY snow totals.  So how about a big Congrats to the Weedsport and CBA football teams on a great season and for winning the state championships     Also a big thanks goes out to Crispy (See Forum) for pledging $20.00 towards prize money for the winning city of The Golden Snowball Award this season.  Thanks Crispy

11/28 - Sorry about the lack of updates the last couple of days.  I always slack off at the beginning of the season.  Anyways, Syracuse moved into 2nd place after picking up over an inch of the white stuff.  I'd still like to know what's going on with Buffalo being in dead last.   Right now it's a mix of rain, sun, rain here in DaCuse.  I hope everyone had a Great holiday weekend!  Did anyone watch the SU game?  Wow says it all.  Just think, a 4 way tie in the Big East with things leaning towards Pitt I think to grab the big bowl game.  I bet SU would like to have the Temple game back to play over.  Jeeesh! 

11/23 - Another awesome day today.  I didn't get around to seeing what the temperature got up to but it was gorgeous out with the sun shining big time.  Thanksgiving night might be getting a little sloppy with some snow over the long weekend so there could be a new leader coming up soon.

On another note I just found out that I get to do Thanksgiving dinner this year   I normally do the cooking for Christmas and Easter and get Thanksgiving off.  Oh well, it will be fun *cough*  Really it will be though.  Nothing like being with family for the holidays.  If I don't get back here in the next week or so then ya know I should of cooked the turkey a little longer  .  Have a SUPER Thanksgiving all.

11/16 - Binghamton is running away with the award.  Should we call it now???  The weather has been so nice I didn't even notice that they picked up some more snow.  50's still in the forecast.  Might be a good time to put up the outdoor Christmas lights while it's still nice out.  I had to change the stats in the voting poll today.  Please vote just once, it saves me a lot of time of having to go through and delete the double votes.  Someone decided to vote 4 times - Ya know who ya are   He or She is pretty adamant that Rochester is going to win BTW 

11/13 - Who would of thought.  Buffalo is dead last right now Albany grabbed some snow yesterday to get out of last place.  I know, the season is just starting so I have nothing better to do than to bust Buffalo's butt .  It still looks like it is suppose to warm up the next couple of days so there won't be much to report.  Enjoy the weekend all!  Time for me to check out the SU game and see how it's going.

11/11 - Nothing to report on total changes.  The forecast calls for some rain maybe mixed with a little snow.  50's today, nothing wrong with that and maybe 50's the beginning of next week.  Running out of time to get the yard work done if you haven't already.  The new roof could be done today if the rain holds off a little longer.  I should know better than to try to have something done in November.

11/10 -  -  I was off on the dates I posted the other day (Get Use To It It happens a lot here) Binghamton seems to be pretty serious this year leading 2 days in a row.  Rochester getting over an inch, way to go.  Syracuse showing half an inch but that might change just for the fact that there was close to a couple inches in my neck of the woods.  It was nice to see a post in the new forum finally.  Thanks Thumpr for taking the time.  Don't forget to be careful on the bridges, they tend to get icy faster than the rest of the roads. 

11/9 - Wow!!!  Binghamton is the first city to report an actual accumulation this year with 0.06 inches.  Way to go Binghamton.  I hope this isn't a foreshadow of what is to come this winter with snow coming again from the south-east and the north.  If that's the case then that could mean that we are in for some nor' eastern weather  again this winter    Anyways. congrats go out to Binghamton for being the first to report some measurable snowfall this season.  Don't be gloating yet though Binghamtonians (Is that a word).  More stats to come later in the day on the other city's ; )

11/8 - Snow was on the ground for a bit in Syracuse this morning.  Probably less than an inch on the car. No totals in yet but some of the cities might be officially on the board with more than a trace once the totals come in later.  I was hoping to kick off the start of the contest with a more impressive 3 feet of snow.  Yes I'm joking   Right now the sun is shining and as I look out the window the snow has already melted.  Stay tuned!

11/7 - Snow is still in the forecast for late tonight and tomorrow for all of the cities except Albany (go Figure).  On a good note we got 2 awesome days, kind of like the calm before the storm so enjoy the rest of today.  As much as I have been trying to brace myself for winter I don't think I am ready for it yet though As always remember "Snow Means Slow" Drive slow all and have a great work week.

11/6 - Watch out all.  Syracuse is on the board with a Trace of snowfall for the 2004 - 2005 season.  A 4 way tie with Rochester falling way behind .  Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow night and Monday, but then again it was suppose to be crappy today and right now it is nice out.  At least in Syracuse it is anyways.  Enjoy the weekend all.  What am I talking about all???  No one comes here until it starts snowing.  For those few who have been visiting, don't forget to visit our polls and to hit our forums.

11/5 - Enough already with the rain Nothing like trying to have a new roof put on in New York at the end of fall.  The roofers were able to get about a third of it done this week because of the weather.  Just think, if it was just a bit colder we would all be shoveling right now .  It will be interesting to see how the new roof holds up this winter.  Hopefully no pans will be around the house catching the leaks from the ice building up like last year.  Anyways, soon, very soon the white stuff will be flying.

11/3 - Still no snow so far but a trace for Buffalo and Binghamton. Wow, Binghamton is tied for 1st place now.

11/1 - Well I suppose it's that time of the year again, Yahoo, NOT!  I think the summer season went a little too fast this year.  Oh that's right, this was the year Summer decided not to show up . At least the fall was pretty decent for us this year.  One of my favorite seasons.  Maybe next year we can keep track of who got the most rain in the off season.  It sure would of been a contest.  Ok, enough about summer!  It is just a memory now.  Temps are expected to hit the low 30's this week at night so that means snow could be in the air anytime now like it or not.  Time to tune up the sleds, wax the ski's, get the snow blowers in tune and dig out the winter clothes.  That's right, no need to dig out the winter clothing because we needed them most of the summer.

Make sure when you get a chance you stop by the new forum and express your views on the Golden Snowball Award.  Let us know who you think will win this year and anything else you want to discuss about winter.  Also let your vote count in our polls that we will be randomly posting from time to time.  Don't forget your vote also counts tomorrow so Get Your Butt Out and Vote!!!  It's your right and it is also your obligation as a citizen of the Great USA.  Nough said for now, Have a Safe Happy Winter All and Most of All Drive Careful.  Remember - "See Snow - Drive Slow".

2003 - 2004 Golden Snowball Season

5/4 - I'm not quite sure whether we would rather have snow or all the rain we have been getting lately.  Sunshine is just around the corner so hang in there.  Just think, about our year in CNY.  Beginning in January - March a few months of snow, April - May a couple of months of rain, June - September a few months of sun and thunderstorms, October - December more snow.  Who would want to live here in the state of NY.  Those of us who know how Special and Great New York is.  I better go shut the windows now, it's raining again (still).

5/1 - It's a Wrap!!!  Congrats goes out to Syracuse for winning this years Golden Snowball award.  One again they prevail in having the most snowfall for the season.  Unfortunately, the overall snowfall record wasn't broken.  Buffalo still holds the title of big city total snow in a season at 199 inches in 1977.  Some of us really thought the 200 inch mark would be toppled this season.  I have to say that I am a little disappointed that it wasn't broken but I am also ready for this nice weather to stick around.  A super huge thumbs up for Rochester who had a respectable total of 125.6 inches. As for Albany with 65.1 inches I suppose you can just consider yourselves lucky this year.  I would still like to know why our elected officials couldn't pass a budget on time again this year, they sure can't say they were to busy shoveling.

We're hoping to meet up with the city officials in the very near future to give them the winning check for $100.00 and to perhaps get some pictures of some of the city officials with the trophy.  Stay tuned for an update on that.  Hey, enjoy the nice weather all!!!

4/16 - The contest is puttering out quickly now!  I'm even starting to cave in now and have doubts about hitting any kind of record for total snowfall for the Syracuse area.  I know how disappointed you all must be.  Yea right, like you haven't been out golfing, fishing, strolling and so on.  Maybe a freak storm will revive things but I won't hold my breath.  Sorry about the lack of updates but I have been doing the same as the rest of you.  Golfing, biking and just enjoying the nice weather that has finally arrived.  70's are in the forecast for the next couple of days   with maybe an 80 degree day.  Enjoy it before we get that freak snowstorm to push us over the record.  Hey, I didn't say I caved in completely and gave up yet.

On a sports note.  A SUPER big Congratulations goes out to the East Syracuse Minoa girls varsity softball team.  They headed south to Myrtle Beach for a softball tournament spring break and walked away undefeated with the Championship Trophy.  Way to go girls!!!

4/5 - THE CONTEST LIVES!!!   I know you all didn't think things were over yet did ya's?  Remember we live in NY and spring doesn't start till about August, just before fall begins.  Wow Rochester!!! Over 4 inches of new snow.  I bet that made your weekend.  Pretty much everyone grabbed a little bit of new snow except for Albany over the weekend.  Right now, Syracuse is only a little over 20 inches to break all the records for a single season and only 12.7 inches for its all time record.  I know everyone is counting on it and could care less about the 50 degree temps.  Right now I think the average temperature should be around 51 degrees.  With the wind chill right now it is about 9 degrees outside   Hey, Enjoy your week all!

3/31 - Sorry about the lack of updates but I am just finally getting over the SU lost to Alabama Unfortunately there really isn't anything to update in the snowfall totals, or is that fortunately   I would of liked to see the 200 inch mark reached this year but it is looking pretty slim now.  Most likely we will see a few flurry's for the rest of the 2003 - 2004 season but I don't see 23 inches in the near future.

On the bright side, I was able to get out and watch a softball and baseball scrimmage already and the real high school season starts in 2 days weather permitting.  Watch out this year for the ESM Girls softball team and the Boys JV team.  They both look pretty good this year.  Hmmm, should I change this into a sports section for the off season   Enjoy the rest of the week all!

3/25 - I received an email from Dan letting me know some of my dates were wrong on the daily entries.  I had 2/23, 2/22 and 2/21 instead of 3/23 and so on. Thanks Dan for pointing that out to me. I also received an email telling me to stop trying to prolong winter by setting the dates back to Feb to break the record It really was just a mistake by putting Feb instead of March, really A little bit of snow since the last update but nothing to really brag about.  Yesterday was an awesome day in Syracuse.  Sunny and 69 degrees.  Today is cloudy and I think rain is in the forecast instead of snow.  Could this be it for the record?   Is the end near , Nah!!!  Just remember we have had snow on Mothers Day before.

The day has come after a Longgggg wait for the SU Orangemen to defend the title again.  I thought it would never get here. Come on SU, you can do it, you can do it baby.  Defense is still going to be the key tonight to a victory.  Alabama is fast so we have to get back on defense fast.  If we do that everything else will fall into place. Jimmy, give me a call if ya need some tips   Good Luck S.U.!!!

3/23 - A tenth of an inch here and there and that's about it.  A heat wave is in the forecast with a possibility of it hitting 60 degrees on Thursday.  Of course that's a little to far to plan ahead but I have to admit I am looking forward to some nice warm weather.  Time to spruce up my golf clubs and get ready for my favorite outdoor game.  Nice shiny clubs, shoes, spiffy looking pants and shirts.  I figure I can't golf worth a crap so I might as well at least look good out there Here's to some nice weather

3/22 - All the cities but Albany received a touch of winter yesterday with Syracuse grabbing almost an inch and a half.  Less that 2 feet of snow to go to reach the 200 mark.  It's beginning to look slim however with 50 degree weather in the forecast towards the end of the week. I bet everyone just hates to here that Don't forget though, this is still New York and things can change in a blink of the eye.  Have a Super week All!!!

3/21 - The goldensnowball.com site got it's first newspaper plug yesterday in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle yesterday.  A big thanks to Jim Memmott for taking the time to contact me and giving a mention in his article about Spring   As for snow, nothing to report in snowfall amts other than .1 inches for Syracuse.  Snow is coming down as I type though so look for some new updated snowfall totals come tomorrow.  Well we all couldn't wait for Spring to get here.  It's here, now what.  Well I'll tell ya what.  Get out the shovels  is what.  We live in NY!  What is Spring???  Actually spring weather is right around the corner.  Just a few days and we should be hitting the 50's The kids are ready for the Baseball and Softball season to begin and it won't be too long.  Really!

OK, now to College Hoops.  The Colgate womens team IMO did themselfs proud playing against a great Tennessee team.  They did get beat but I thought they were impressive in putting up quite a bit of offense.  Kudo's the Colgate team.  The Orangemen also did an awesome job in beating Maryland.  I don't know if coach Jim has something against blowing out a team but for some reason he likes to keep it close.  I guess that makes it better for us, at least more exciting.  One question though coach.  Umm, is there a reason why we slow the ball down with 10 minutes left to kill the clock.  Runnnnn with the ball, it was working, why change it???  Ok, that's my rant and a HUGE Congrats to the SU Orangemen.  Sweet Sixteen Baby

3/20 - Not much to report other than Binghamton was the only city with any snow for yesterday.  A Big Welcome to our visitors from Rochester today.  You still have a good shot at beating last years total snowfall.  Probably by this time of the season you would rather not and just jump right into Spring.  I don't blame you with over 119 inches of snow so far on the season.  We'll try to get another update later in the day.  Have a Great Weekend all and enjoy the beginning of spring.

3/19 - Something about Binghamton's updated stats kind of impressed me.  I'm sure you can figure it out but look at the totals for this season and last season.  Yup, they have exactly the same amt of snow this year as they did last year on this date.  What's the odds of that happening?  As for the rest of us, a little under an inch since yesterday.

A super congrats goes out to SU for a great win over BYU.  What a game and a super big pat on the back for Gerry who had a carreer high of 43 points.  Awesome shooting.  One thing to mention in sports as that so far the Big East is 7 - 0 in tourney play counting the NCAA and the NIT's.  Go Big East!!!  OOPS, I keep forgetting this is about weather

3/18 - Syracuse continues to inch it's way closer to the all time record of 199 inches that Buffalo holds the title to.  They have a real good shot at breaking their own record of 192.1 inches that fell in the 92 and 93 season and the 200 inch mark is still a real possibility.  A little bit of snow is still in the forecast for the rest of the week.  Spring is in the air and just around the corner.  I don't quite know where Spring is in the air but I'm sure it is someplace.  Maybe Florida???  Rochester is getting closer to last years totals and Binghamton is just about ready to lap last years snowfall.  Second place might get more interesting in the next couple of days because it looks like whatever snow we get will be more to the south than the north.

Today is the big day for the defending NCAA champions, Syracuse.  GO ORANGEMEN!!!  It should be a good game against BYU and hopefully the defense will shut em down.  If not we could be in for some big trouble.  DA CUSE is in the house Baby!!!  Good Luck S.U.

3/17 - HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY ALL!!!  The weatherman get an A for the forecast for yesterday.  A lot of snow everywhere.  Some of the updates we received for some cities are just up until midnight so look for the totals to change again.  Buffalo was the big winner with over 14 inches and Rochester had a respectable 11.6 inches to report so far.  Here in Syracuse up until midnight the report shows only 9.0 inches but that will change once a new update is reported. Looking at the driveway , my guess is it should be close to a foot or so of new snow.  Right now the sun is shining but flurries are in the forecast foe most of the week I believe.

On another note, I had the privilege yesterday to talk to Jim Memmott  at the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester.  He sounded like a super guy and I checked out some of his articles.  It looks like Rochester is lucky to have a good writer in town.  It was a pleasure talking with you Jim.  They have a few cams at the Democrat and Chronicle site that are pretty cool to check out Rochester's and Buffalo's weather live.  One view of the camera for Buffalo it looks like was taken over by a big hairy spider which was interesting to watch.  If you go to the Buffalo cam, click on another view to get out of the preset view, then click back to the preset view, you might be lucky enough to see the hairy little beast in action.  Anyways, you can check out the cams Here.  Have a Great St. Patrick's Day all.

3/16 - Ut - Oh!!!  It's about time to break out the shovels again.  A March snowstorm is on the way.  Probably hitting Buffalo and Rochester by now.  It's just starting to snow here in Syracuse.  The storm should drop at least 6 inches give or take 6 inches   Jeeeeze, I'm starting to sound like a weatherman now.  You know how it goes.  The forecasts something like Daylight most of the day until nightfall in which there should be a 70 percent chance of darkness   Anyways, most of us should be getting a significant amount of snow so take it slow on the roads and drive careful.  SNOW means SLOW.

3/15 - More snow since last update and more on the way.  Syracuse inches closer to the record and only a little over 37 inches to go.  3 - 6 inches is in the forecast for the area.  Those who ended up going to the St Patrick's Day parade downtown had a blast.  A blast of bitter cold and wind that is.  Despite the cold we had a great time.  This year didn't seem like as many people as last year but then again last year was a heat wave.

A big congrats to the Colgate women's basketball team who are in the women's NCAA for the 1st time I believe GO COLGATE!!!  They get to play the number 1 seed Tennessee.  UPSET, UPSET!!!  Have a Super week all.

3/13 - Wow, 2 days in a row with snow to report all around.  Syracuse once again the big winner with 3 inches since the last golden snowball update.  Just a little over 3 feet to go to hit the 200 mark for the season.  Time to head out to the St Patty's Day parade downtown.  Ladies, if ya happen to run into me,  I'm buying the rounds .  Ok, a drink for the Gents too.  Enjoy and dress warm.  Gonna be freezing with the wind blowing.  Don't forget the DD to get home!!!

3/12 - A little more snow for all of Central New York, yes even the capital.  It might take a few storms to hit some records but the 200 inch mark is still in range.  OK, enough about weather and lets get right to it.  Yes the Orangemen What was that all about???  They lead most of the game and then poof it's over and I won't be watching SU this weekend.  Jeeez what a disappointment!  I was looking forward to hitting St Patrick's Day downtown and watching the game with the crowd.  I suppose I'll get over it and will wait patiently for the NCAA tourney to start.  Congrats to Boston for hanging in there and Congrats to SU for hanging tough when they were on the bubble for a bid but managed to beat some great teams to earn their way into the tourney.  As for St. Patrick's day downtown.  If you haven't been there, it's a must do and you'll have a great time Hopefully the weather will be like last year, but don't count on it.  Have a Great Weekend All!!!

3/9 - FINALLY some snowfall to report.  Get this! Albany was the Big winner with a little over 2 inches of snow.  They are making their move on Syracuse Syracuse grabbed a little over an inch to move closer to the record but time is running against them.  The other cities picked up a little bit.  The race is back on after the long winter drought of 2004.

3/7 - Still not much to report but the nice warm weather is about to be a thing of the past for awhile anyways.  Nothing but a trace of snowfall since the last update but snow is in the forecast so it's time to get this contest rocking again.  We should be seeing some new totals in the next day or two.  As always, Remember - SNOW MEANS SLOW - Drive Carefully an Buckle Up!!

1/12 - Wow, talk about a heat wave!!!  It looks like we can take the Thermal underwear off for a day or two.  The temperature has hit 30 degrees : )  After that below zero weather, it really feels great.  Some towns in NY were 30 below zero or better.  Just remember, Spring is just around the corner now, NOT!  My apologies for slacking off on updating the Golden Snowball website this year.  It should be good to go now ; )  We will do our best to keep it updated as much as possible.  Have a Great Winter All!

3/4 - Wow, it's March already.  The winter is just flying by but don't be fooled.  More snow will be coming.  The reason for now recent updates is obvious.  The weather has been great and really nothing much to report lately on the golden snowball award.  Temps are suppose to be dropping a bit soon so snow will be on the horizon.  I can't believe all the snow has melted in the last week or so.  The grass is finally showing again.  I think the last time we were able to see it here in Syracuse was a day or two before Christmas.

2/27 - Ut-Oh, We've been slacking the last couple of days on the Golden Snowball updates.  Sunshine has put a damper on the contest for now anyways   Lots of sunshine in the forecast for the next few days   Have a super weekend all and get outside and enjoy the weather while it lasts.

2/24 - Looking at Binghamton's snow fall stats I'm pretty impressed with how last years and this years stats are so close.  Only a few inches separates them.  Nothing over night to report   Nice and sunny outside right now in Syracuse.  Maybe we will get lucky again this year for the St Patrick's day parade and have the same weather as last year.  It's quite a party downtown, ya don't want to miss it

2/23 - Binghamton was the big winner since the last report picking up an inch.  It's getting to be a pretty close race for second place between Rochester and Binghamton's total snowfall for the season.  Only 14 inches separate them.  Syracuse moved just a hair closer to the record and the 200 inch mark picking up a little under half an inch of snow.  This week as it stands right now looks to be a little lame as far as snowfall is concerned.  And we all know the weathermen are usually right No Offense Mark

2/22 - Snow, Snow everywhere since the last weather update.  Not a lot but a couple of inches for a few of the cities.  Syracuse is back on track to set a record for the year.  I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing but it keeps things interesting.  Enjoy what's left of the weekend all.

2/21 - Just a sprinkle here and there since the last Golden Snowball update.  One thing I noticed is look at Albany's total snowfall for this year and last year.  Jeeeze, talk about getting a break.  They have only received a little more than half of what they received last year.  One good thing is that all the law makers should of been able to make it to work everyday so the Budget should be on time this year   I think we all know better!  A little bit of the White Stuff is on the way

2/19 - Well as much as I like the snow I have to admit the last few days have been enjoyable with the sun shining.  Visitors to the website have slowed down quite a bit in the last several days.  People must have been out looking for that Gold Medallion to win a couple of grand.  Time to stop looking.  Someone found it I had an idea where it was , Really I did.  That wasn't me at Green Lakes that you saw falling down the hill, really it wasn't Ok, so every year I look in the wrong place    It still was nice to get outside though and enjoy the weather.  Congrats to the winning family.  I'll let my kids know the medallion was found in a couple of days.  I told them where I thought it was hidden.  They should have the snow off the roof in another day or two Hey the ceiling stopped leaking   Have a Great Weekend All!

2/15 - I hope everyone had a Great Valentines Day yesterday.  Just a little bit of snow since the last update but nothing to brag about, that's for sure.  Sunny here in Syracuse but a cold front is on its way which will probably bring some new snow for most of us. And YES the roof is still leaking.  Stay warm!  By the way, the Gold Medallion contest for the Post Standard has started.  The one who finds it can win up to $2000.00 if your a subscriber to the newspaper.  Get out and enjoy the sunshine and maybe you'll be the lucky one to find it.  Good Luck  

2/13 - I hope no one is superstitious, I just noticed what today is when I typed the date   Looking at the snowfall stats today, it looks like it's going to be a good race for second place between Rochester and Binghamton.  Binghamton seems to keep creeping closer and closer every time I check.  Remember everyone, this is still a race for the bragging rights even though Syracuse is in the lead right now.  Here's a couple of scenarios to think about.  Heavy lake effect snow that hits Buffalo and Rochester and then pushes up north before it hits Syracuse and they are in the race.  More likely, a nor-eastern that comes up the coast and hits Binghamton and then heads east and misses Syracuse and Binghamton is right in the race.  Ok, so I am reaching now    Have a Great Week end All!!!

2/12 - I wanted to mention that I was fortunate enough to have a brief conversation with Journalist Sean Kirst the other day and Mark who does the weather at the paper.  Both of them were awesome and more than willing to help out in giving me some information and seeing if they can get a little more.  It was nice to hear that they have actually visited our site.  I think I might of even heard them say it is their favorite site on the whole internet Ok, maybe they didn't say that but anyways, a Big Thanks to Sean and Mark for taking the time.  It is appreciated!

- Not too bad of a weather update since the last one.  Rochester grabbed enough snow to put them an inch away from 100 inches for the winter.  Pretty respectable total   Syracuse grabbed a few more to move them closer to the 200 inches of snowfall total.  Albany can probably think about growing oranges year round if their trend keeps up

2/11 - Waiting for the official stats at the NWS to be updated to reflect this mornings snowfall.  Right now just a little under an inch since the last update for most of the cities.  Stay Tuned!

2/9 - Time to put the shorts on. Another heat wave has hit us.  30 plus degrees feels great : )  Of course it probably won't last too long so enjoy the weather while we can.  I was just looking at the totals and started to think.  Look out when I start to think : (   I'm just curious as to why people go south to Florida to get away from the snow.  Look at the totals, they can just head over to Buffalo to get away from the snow

2/8 - Ut Oh!  I missed another update yesterday, sorry about that.  I must of been distraught from another Orangeman loss : (  Jeeeze, time to get out of the slump already : (    Anyways a couple of inches here and there for almost everyone.  Rochester is creeping u-p slowly towards last years total snowfall.  Way To Go Rochester!  I'm starting to sound a little like the story below.  Yesterday our second shovel broke for the year : (   It wasn't even shoveling, it was trying to knock the 6 foot icicles off of the house : )   Then I go to cook something and can't find a pan.  I had to grab one from under the bay window ceiling which has been leaking from the roof for the last 3 days.  Then there is a water main break a few miles up the road so we have to conserve water because it may be several days before they fix it.  That shouldn't be a problem though, we can just use the water from all the pans under the bay window catching the leaking water ; )   Enjoy the rest of the weekend all!

2/6 - Another boring day for weather stats.  Syracuse picked up a little over a trace and that was about it for all.  Some freezing rain was around for awhile but nothing luckily not enough to make things bad.  Jeeeze, it's raining now!  A little bit of snow on the way.  At least I can see some of the driveway now : )  Have a Great Weekend All!!!

Wow, mark yesterdays date down for next year!  No snow to report for all the cities since the last update.  What's even more interesting is checking last years total for the same time period, it was pretty much the same thing.  February 2nd might become a favorite day for those of you who dislike snow.  Yesterday was sunny all day and reasonably warm for a change.  It won't last though, snow on its way ; )

2/5 - Well stats were easy to update today.  Nothing of significance to report so I'll leave it at that : )  I think it is almost time to start a countdown to 200 inches though.

2/4 - The southern cities were the place to be for snow since the last update.  Binghamton and Albany both set snowfall records for the date.  Albany had just over 6 inches and Binghamton had 5.7 inches of snowfall on the day.  Syracuse is slowly pushing their way towards the 200 inch mark : )  Hmmmm, is anyone else's roofs leaking with the warm up that we are having : (   Enjoy the warm weather while it's here!

2/3 - For those in the Syracuse area, if you didn't catch the article, the Great columnist Sean Kirst had a good article about the golden snowball and snowfall totals in yesterdays Post Standard paper which you can read here.  Sean talks about the possibility of reaching 200 inches of snowfall.  THAT'S 16 FEET of SNOW!!!

2/1 - Happy Super Bowl Day All!!!  One question, shouldn't the day after the Super Bowl be a holiday or something.  Is there a reason why the game has to start so late just to please the West Coast?  Just think, the game will end around 9 - 10 pm there and probably around midnight here.  What's up with that?  Ok enough ranting, for now anyways ; )  Syracuse grabbed a little over 14 inches since the last weather update, Rochester had an impressive 6.3 inches, Buffalo grabbed a few and Binghamton and Albany whimped out on us : (    We also decided to add the stats for last years totals at this time of year.  It's pretty interesting!  Syracuse which got pounded last year is about 3 feet over last years total for the date and Albany has received almost half less than it did last year.  The rest are pretty close.  Just some interesting stats we thought.  Enjoy the day!  And what about the Fulton area, jeeeze, around 6 feet of snow last we heard.  Whether you like the snow or not, ya gotta feel for them.

1/31 - We all got a little bit of a break yesterday.  Not a lot to report other than Buffalo had a little over a couple of inches of snow.  Maybe it is their turn to start getting into the Golden Snowball contest.  Its been snowing all morning here in snowy Syracuse so tomorrows update should be a good one.  I don't think I have seen the grass since a little after Christmas.  Almost getting to be about that time to start tuning up the Lawn Mowers, NOT!!! ; )  Drive Careful all and remember, "Snow-Go-Slow", unless your on a sled that is.

1/30 - Well we decided to get rid of the snowfall effects on our page.  I'm not sure about all of you that visit here, but it was driving us nuts looking at it after awhile : )  Anyways, EVERYONE  had some snow since the last update.  Even Albany, Go figure.  Several inches of snow for all to share.  Wednesday night was the first night I've gotten stuck in our driveway.  Must be because I stopped shoveling back in December.  I did keep up with it for awhile though : )  I'm joking, my daughter almost always shovels now a days but didn't get around to it until after I had gotten stuck.  And how about that UFO??? Did everyone see the UFO yesterday.  We were just about to call and report it, then someone brought it to our attention that it was that thing we call the SUN.  Yup, we had forgotten what it looked like its been so long since we've seen it ; )  Can we have 2 days in a row of sunshine??  Have a Great Weekend all and Drive safely!

1/23 - This is starting to turn into a run away now.  The snow just keeps coming and coming in Syracuse now.  Gotta love it though.  Snowmobiling, sledding, skiing and tons of other great thing to do.  I only wish I did some of them ; )

1/22 - Not too much to report since yesterday.  It looks like some nasty or is that nice weather is around for at least a couple of days though.  Lake effect snow is predicted for central New York with several inches accumulating.  The trees are swaying big time with the gusty wind picking up.

1/20 - Syracuse kicked some major butt since the last update with over 7 inches of snowfall.  Rochester didn't do too bad either picking up over 4 inches of snowfall.  Not too much to report for Buffalo, Binghamton and Albany though.  With Syracuse having an over 20 inch lead, I think it's time they should get a few days break.  Ummmm, trust me, I mean that sincerely, Really, MY BACK IS SHOT!  I'm off to shovel now : (

1/19 - Well it's coming down again or should I say still.  Rochester was the winner yesterday picking up a little over 3 inches but I have a feeling Syracuse will be getting the most total snowfall for today.  I think it's about time Albany concedes for the year.  I think they are running neck and neck with Florida, jeeesh.  The politicians are having it to easy not having to shovel in Albany.  Lets all do a snow dance for Albany ; )

1/16 - Today is starting the same as yesterday did.  Cold!!!! REALLY COLD!!!  Keep the kids indoors, plenty of Hot Chocolate and Cookies ; )  When it gets this cold make sure all your skin is protected including your face.  With wind temperature between 10 - 35 across the northeast it doesn't take long for some serious problems to occur.  Is it just me or does it seem like the kids are home more than they are at school???  Enjoy another day off kids ; )

1/15 - Nothing to report on total changes sooooo you all know that means I get to ramble on about something else   It's a good news story that I have been meaning to mention here that I read a week or so ago that Sean Kirst wrote in the Post Standard.

The article was about the children, 6th graders at H.W. Smith Elementary School and their unselfishness.  What they are doing is giving up a field trip to the Seabreeze amusement park and instead donating their fundraising efforts for that trip to the Tsunami victims.  The trip to Seabreeze is a yearly event to reward the children that are graduating from 6th grade and moving on up to middle school.  Anyways I thought it was a touching story and wanted to let the kids at H.W Smith Elementary know how proud we are and America is at their unselfishness and kindness by giving to the people of the Tsunami disaster. 

1/14 - One word sums today up and that word is BRRRRRRRRR!!!!  Not quite sure how many R's in the word Brrrrrrrrr but however many it's not enough : (  Looks like we are all in for some cold weather for a few days.  Everyone grabbed some more snow for the snowball contest since last update.  Binghamton had over 3 inches reported to edge closer to second place.  Will they catch Rochester?

1/13 - Everyone got a little bit of the white stuff since the last update yesterday.  Binghamton grabbed  over 3 inches to move closer to Rochester.  Buffalo is really slacking off this year so far.  I wonder if we should all do a snow dance for Buffalo to help them catch up to the rest of us : )o  I'm sure they would appreciate it.  How bout the Cuse last night over Missouri?  Gotta love em!!!

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