I Think It’s Time for One More Snow Dance

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Syracuse is still winning by just a few flakes and nearing the end of January the Golden Snowball trophy is still up for grabs.  To be honest I don’t think any of the 5 GSB cities really have an advantage right now which is kind of cool that it’s so close this far into the season.  I think it’s time to do a snow dance once again.  Only 2 per season and this is the last one so lets hope it works.  I’ll post after it’s over which will be in the next day or two.  As always, no media or photos allowed :)

I was just reading around and came across an article that Sean Kirst just put out a little while ago.  Those of you that visit here frequently each season know how much Sean loves our snow contest and is probably the biggest reason why our fun snow race is as popular as it is today.  Last year he even took me out on my Birthday.  Well not exactly out but he made me walk around the freezing snowy city streets, sit in a snow banks for hours to get a good picture and he even made me carry the Golden Snowball trophy the whole time.  OK, truth is it was all fun and neither one of us wanted to carry the trophy because we were both afraid we would drop and break it :(   True story!

Now that would have been a story for sure.  Headlines read “Oracle of Snow Contest Breaks Golden Snowball Trophy”.  Better yet “Award Winning Journalist Sean Kirst Says Oops as Trophy Crashes” . :)   I decided to be the brave one (like I had a choice) and carried it after our attemp to get Dennis Nett, the photographer to carry it failed.  All in all it was a blast though and a Birthday to remember.

Where was I?  Oh yeah, anyways Sean who is a journalist for the Post Standard and Syracuse.com has an article out with his normal witty style and I love how Syracuse Mayor Miner took up a bet with Mayor Ryan of Binghamton.  All in fun and check out Sean’s article Here at Syracuse.com . 

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Have a Great Day All….

Could Least Snowiest Records Be Broken

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I don’t think it’s going to happen but….  Looking at some of the cities least snowiest seasons there is a chance that some of the Golden Snowball cities just may break their records.  Keep in mind that there is still a lot of time left in the snow season but with the lack of snow this season it is still possible.

I know Albany won’t break their record.  Just a good gust of wind should blow enough snow over from Syracuse to put them over their pitiful record of 13.8 inches :)   As for the other cities though you would have to think that it’s possible.  All 4 of the cities have less than half of their least snowiest season on record.  Steve Madsen who resides in Buffalo AKA – the General ;)   Syracuse & Binghamton dates back to 1951 – 52 season.

* ALBANY *
Min – 13.8 inches ( 1912 – 1913 )

* BINGHAMTON *
Min – 47.8 inches ( 1988 – 1989 )

* BUFFALO *
Min  -  22.4 (1889-1890)

* ROCHESTER *
Min  -  29.2  (1932-1933)

* SYRACUSE *
Min – 59.4 inches ( 2001 – 2002 )

Then on another note, the snow contest is still wide open to any of the 5 Goldensnowball cities.  Yup, even Albany has a real chance right now of winning the Golden Snowball trophy which would be the first time ever for them.  I think if that happens then Stephen or Sean Kirst should shave their head :)   In my opinion it’s not looking good for Syracuse right now and this could be the season they go down.  One or two good storms could plow any of the cities way past the others.  Good Luck to all of the GSB cities and hopefully the Snow Gods will bless you with some snow soon ;)

Right now in the National snowfall contest at the Golden Snow Globe site the big 3 from NY are getting their butts kicked :(   Anchorage, AK continues to add to their totals and at last update they were about 65 inches ahead of Syracuse.  I think one of the big 3 will need quite a few storms to catch up but it will be interesting to watch.  I’ll try and update those stats in the next couple of days.

Have a Great Day All and let’s hope this next round of snow due anytime now drops more than they are forecasting :)

Let the Golden Snowball Contest Begin, Again

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Updated 1/14  6:30 am – All of the Golden Snowball Cities are up to date :)

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Updated 1/14 1:00 am – All of the snow stats for the day haven’t been reported yet.  Syracuse and Binghamton are valid as of 10 PM, Albany didn’t report the last update and Buffalo and Rochester’s snow stats are only up until 4 PM.  Chances are that Albany, Buffalo and Rochester will have some (maybe a lot) more snow to add come tomorrow morning.  The snow is hanging just north of Syracuse trying to slide toward the city so they may have more to report also.  Here is what we have so far according to NOAA.

Syracuse - 8.0 Record – Old Record 6.1 in 1989  They also set a rain record for the day.
Buffalo – 6.4 Record – Old Record 5.1 in 2000
Binghamton – 5.5
Rochester – 5.5
Albany – Trace?????

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Start the GSB snow contest TAKE TWO – Let’s restart the contest all over like it never started to begin with. Here we are just about half way through January and only a foot of snow is leading the snow contest. Only a foot of snow for Syracuse which has held the bragging rights for the past several years as the snowiest city in the Golden Snowball contest.

Albany, which I consider the place to go in the winter to get away from the snow actually has a realistic chance right now of winning the contest. It would be the first time ever for Albany. They added another 2.6 inches of snow today to add to their totals for the season. Enough snow to slip past Rochester and go into 3rd in the snow contest. Albany in 3rd place in the middle of January just don’t seem right does is? Well, way to go Albany I suppose. Makes me wonder what Governor Cuomo
has up his sleeve :)

Make sure ya’s check out Stephen’s Point Blank Range Forecasts below :)

Right now the Golden Snowball Trophy is up for grabs for any of the cities. Snow is in the forecast for all of the GSB cities I believe and come the end of the weekend (probably sooner) there may be a new leader. I’m taking a guess that come the end of the weekend (Sunday Night) it will be

Rochester
Syracuse
Albany
Binghamton
Buffalo

Which city do think will be winning? Leave a comment with what you all think the line-up will be come the end of Sunday.

Take it slow driving and have a Super Day All ;)

Point Blank Range Forecasts: Jan. 13, 2012

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Looks like the Upstate NY region is going to get some snow for the end of the week. Before we get into that though, it’s a look at the previous forecast.

I believed Syracuse would take the lead by at least 2 inches at the end of the 3rd, but 4 or more would be a Bull’s Eye. Syracuse did in fact take the lead…but by how much?

Syracuse: 12.5
Binghamton: 12.2

Not enough. Turns out, Syracuse got about what I thought they would, but I forgot to take Binghamton’s snowfall during that time into account. That’s quite a mistake to make when comparing the 2 cities, right? Sheesh.

GSB Forecast Results
Forecasts Bull’s Eye On Target Complete Miss Points
Average: 0.00
SITD 0 0 1 0
PBR 0 0 1 0
Total 0 0 2 0

Still looking for points of any kind. With that in mind, here’s the latest forecast:

Bull’s Eye All five GSB cities will have 1-6 inches of snowfall by the end of Friday.
On Target A majority of the GSB cities will have 1-6 inches of snowfall by the end of Friday.
Complete Miss 2 or fewer GSB cities will have 1-6 inches of snowfall by the end of Friday.

Have a great end to the work week everyone! And maybe I’ll get on the board this time!

Shot In The Dark Forecasts: January 2012

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What’s always late and rarely great? Shot In The Dark Forecasts of course! Time to check out just how bad December’s outlook was and try to do better with January’s.

For December, I said the rankings would be flipped for a Bull’s Eye. If 3 were in the right spots, that would be On Target. Here’s how they were at the time of the forecast:
Albany
Binghamton
Syracuse
Rochester
Buffalo

So, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton, Albany is the order I’m looking for…here’s how it was at the end of December…

Binghamton 9.9
Syracuse 7.2
Albany 6.1
Rochester 5.2
Buffalo 3.8

I would have been better off saying the rankings would remain the same as none of the cities ended up in their predicted spot. I have a feeling it’s going to be that kind of season.

GSB Forecast Results
Forecasts Bull’s Eye On Target Complete Miss Points
Average: 0.00
SITD 0 0 1 0
PBR 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 1 0

With that out of the way, time for the January outlook, and it may be the biggest “no duh!” one ever! Hey, at this point, I need as many points as I can get to make up for that dud of a forecast.

Bull’s Eye: All five cities have below average, or at least 1 is a foot or more below average, snowfall for January.
On Target: A majority of the cities have below average snowfall for January.
Complete Miss: Any other result.

Have a great January everyone!

Syracuse Takes the Lead by A Snow Flake

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Well it’s late and I figured I would take a look at the latest snow stats.  I was surprised to see Syracuse sneak into the lead by just 0.1 of an inch.  They also finally slipped past the one foot mark in snowfall for the season.  I would normally say Whoooo Hoooo but come on now, it’s January 4th.  Enough said for now and we’ll update the stats as we get them.

For those of us missing the big snow, here is and
old family video of The Blizzard of 1966

The little kid in the brown coat and hat is me :)


Have a great day all ;)

Binghamton is First City to Hit a Foot of Snow

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It’s gonna be close as far as Stephen’s point blank forecast goes but I think if I were him I may want to do a snow dance and fast. ;)   See his predictions below!  Binghamton, the southern most city in the Golden Snowball contest is the first city to receive 12 inches of snow.  I was thinking a few of the cites would have hit that with what was in the forecast but that turned out to be a bust for all of the GSB cities.

It still looks like a couple of the cities can add to their totals but it’s not looking like a whole lot unless the LES gets going again.  For now Binghamton is looking pretty good to hold on to the lead for at least the overnight.

I saw my neighbor Jim loading his snowmobile onto his truck yesterday afternoon.  I’m guessing he wasn’t heading to Bingo but probably up north around Tug HIll or some place close to there where it looked like the snow was coming down.  Maybe Mexico?  Sooner or later it has to hit.  Err, it does have to snow sooner or later doesn’t it?  In the mean time head north my snow loving friends, head north :)

Have a GREAT Week All!

Point Blank Range Forecasts: Jan. 3, 2012

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Happy New Year everyone!

It was a very quiet December, so much so that I ended up having no Point Blank Range Forecasts for the entire month. We’re starting January, and 2012 for that matter, off with a bang though!

Those who are familiar with my PBR Forecasts know that I try to include several cities in these. But with the slow start to the season, I’m at the point where I just want to get forecasts done, even if that means going with just one city.

The first PBR forecast involves Syracuse, as there is the potential for lake effect snow Monday night into Tuesday. At last check, Syracuse is behind Binghamton by 2.7 inches, and I believe they will make that up with his storm.

Bull’s Eye: Syracuse takes the lead by 4 or more inches at the end of Tuesday.
On Target: Syracuse takes the lead by 2 to 4 inches at the end of Tuesday.
Complete Miss: Syracuse takes the lead by 2 or fewer inches, or trails, at the end of Tuesday.

Have a great week, and here’s to a great 2012!

Least Snowiest Decembers for GSB cities

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As we all know, it has been a very quiet month snow-wise this December. In fact, the city with the most snow this month is Binghamton, with 6.7 inches. The least snowiest December among the five cities is Albany, with less than an inch. This got us thinking…what are the top 5 least snowy Decembers for each of the GSB cities? After a little bit of research, here they are!

Albany:
Trace (1928 and 1895)
0.3 (2006)
0.5 (1931)
0.6 (1943)

Binghamton:
4.0 (1994)
4.2 (2006)
4.7 (1957)
5.4 (1965)
6.2 (1998)

Buffalo:
1.1 (1891 and 1889)
1.7 (1943)
2.9 (1931)
3.4 (1896)

Rochester:
2.6 (1939 and 1928)
4.1 (1932)
4.3 (1936)
4.7 (1891)

Syracuse:
2.7 (1931)
2.8 (1947)
3.4 (1932)
5.2 (1924)
5.9 (1994)

As some of our readers probably know, when I did the seasonal snow rankings last Winter, I used the 1951-52 season as a starting point. That was to sort of make it an even playing field as that was the first season available with data for all five GSB cities. One of the reasons was to compare rankings by city (as an example: City A is having their 15th snowiest season, while City B is at their 26th). It wouldn’t be “fair” if one city’s records went back 50 years while another one went back 100 years or more. This time around, I decided to go with all available seasons. Since I’m not comparing each other’s rankings (that might come later) with each other, I believed this to be the way to go. As such, I should mention that the period of record can vary greatly city to city. Albany (1874), Buffalo (1871) and Rochester (1871) have a much earlier starting point than Binghamton (1951) and, to a lesser extent, Syracuse (1902).

By the way, with 4.2 inches of snow so far, Rochester could crack the top 5 of their least snowiest seasons! A half an inch or less is what it’ll take these last few days of the month.

Syracuse Inches Their Way to Third – Buffalo Drops to Last

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Syracuse has finally gotten some winter like weather picking up a few inches of snow in some pretty windy conditions.  This is what CNY is suppose to look like in December.  Buffalo is only reporting half an inch of snow so far and with The Rock showing 1.8 inches Buffalo heads to the bottom of the Golden Snowball hill :)

Binghamton was able to add to their totals and also stay ahead of Albany which decided to sit this one out so far.  I think we should call this little blast of snowfall take 2.  Take 1 didn’t go to well so lets see if this gets the snow falling and the lake machines rolling ;)

Syracuse still has a slight chance of breaking the record for the least snowiest December which according to Stephen since the snow has been measured at the airport was in 1994 with 5.9 inches.  I don’t see that happening though for the fact that it is still snowing off and on and looking at the radar it looks like the Lake effect is giving one last shot at trying to get some snow bands going.  More to come tomorrow when all of the snow stats come in.

Have a Super Day All and watch out for some slippery spots on the road!