GoldenSnowball.com - A Fun New York Snow Contest

Charlie English is still looking for more of your thoughts and feelings about the snow we receive in the Great state of New York. Take a few minutes and fill him in on how you think the snow we get is good or bad. You can leave your comments here at http://goldensnowball.com/2008/01/snow-lovers-and-haters-opinions-needed.html

Thanks everyone!

Rochester continues their march up the snow hill trying to be king and right now they are only 3.6 inches away from throwing Syracuse off the top of the hill. Looking at last years totals for this time in the season has me a little worried as a Syracusan and here’s why.

Last season most of us got off to a slow start but Rochester was really slow and was trailing Syracuse by 15 inches at this time last year and fell even further behind before they started a come back. Although we ended up blowing them away by the time the season ended they made a pretty good charge for awhile and I think it was about mid February when they started the charge. That’s why Syracuse might want to be a little worried this year. They have already started to make their move and it’s way earlier than they did last season. We’ll have to wait and see how serious they are about winning the trophy.

Don’t count Buffalo out of this yet either. Although the lake has been freezing over pretty rapidly the last week or so (see maps below) there is still enough open water to keep the lake machine running. Plus, my guess is that he General probably has some kind of destroyer on order to cruise through the lake and break all of the ice up if it’s needed. Ya have to keep an eye on the General, he’s a tricky kind of guy 😉

Is it time for the famous snow dance to take place??? You bet it is and it will be taken place in the very near future and this season the General from Buffalo is going to also do one or two, three. I believe this will be his third one of the season. No make that his second one. The first one was kind of an experiment for him and his dance ended up almost producing a hurricane. So we’ll consider that one some kind of wind dance. Yup, remember that windy day a few weeks back? Enough said ; ) Anyways the General called me out on a snow dance and with the contest being so close right now I figured I better do something to keep the trophy here in DaCuse another season so it will be happening maybe come Tuesday. At least that is what I told the General anyways, Shhhhhhh. Have a great day everyone.

Jan 24th NOAA Lake Ice

January 17th Ice on Lakes

My guess is that Syracuse will start getting dumped on sometime soon. Here is why. I shoveled my tail off during the month of December while all of my kids were off at college. All 3 kids are back to college now after the Christmas break as of yesterday which is when my daughter went back to Suny Oswego. Number of times they had to shovel my driveway while on Christmas break? Zero!!! To sum this rant up there has been no snow to shovel when the kids were around but when they aren’t around to help you can bet it will start snowing again. I think my daughters boyfriend Justin who also attends Oswego was a little surprised when I told him that as they drove back yesterday they will be entering a different world than they left behind here in snowless Syracuse and where he is from which is Norwich. Other than the winds which they are trying to get use to if they are lucky they will get to see the snow bands coming right at them. Their building has an awesome view of the lake from the top floor and they should be able to see the lake effect coming right at them.

Syracuse better watch their back because Rochester has slowly been inching their way towards the king of the snow hill top spot. Currently they are only 5.5 inches away from taking over the snow hill. I didn’t think I would be saying this but don’t count Buffalo out yet either. They have been picking up the pace the last several days and are only about a foot out of the lead. Until that lake freezes over we all better be worried about them. Binghamton and Albany aren’t a threat yet but if the Nor Easter’s continue they could mount a push to the top. In other words it’s still a good race and any of the GSB cities could pull off an upset over DaCuse this year.

Have a great day all!

First off, Congratulations to the Syracuse Orange Women’s Basketball Team on breaking into the top 25 in the AP Rankings coming in at #24. Well deserved for your hard work and keep it going!!! http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/rankings I listened to most of the UConn game on the radio and man that was just as exciting as any men’s basketball game.

OK, About a week ago I almost typed that a couple of the Golden Snowball cities are within reach of catching some of the snow totals from up North like Oswego and Fulton. Then reality set in and I decided to wait another 2 months before I type something like that. Well the north has finally turned on their lake effect machine and it’s still running. More than enough to get the snowmobilers hitting the trails once their groomed and it’s cold enough so the snow should be sticking around this time.

Here are some stats that were posted by ZR800 in the forum this morning and more has fallen since then and look at the snow rates. It was and could still be in certain places falling at 2 to 3 inches an hour:

…OSWEGO COUNTY…
FULTON 37.0 422 AM 1/21 18″ LAST 9 HOURS. ENDED
OSWEGO 30.0 600 AM 1/21 15″ LAST 7 HRS…CITY.
MEXICO 26.0 300 AM 1/21 7″ LAST 2 HOURS

I took a look at the Northern Chateau cam online a couple of hours ago at http://www.northernchateau.com/webcam.html and the measurement was showing just under a foot of snow which is where it was a couple of days ago. Now it’s at the 1 1/2 foot mark which means they are most likely getting 2 to 3 inches an hour right now and Tina from the forum who lives up that way said it was something like 13 below this morning there so that snow won’t be going anywhere soon.

In Fulton more than snow is coming down. Unfortunately the DPW garage came down also. Well the roof did anyways and looking at the pictures it looks like the whole building might have to come down. Check out the story and pictures at http://blog.syracuse.com/news/2008/01/local_news_64.html . I guess if there is any good news to come out of it it’s that nobody was hurt and the plows were out of the building at the time which is kind of obvious to me that they would be. It sounds like the dump trucks and some other equipment were in there though so for those of you in the Fulton area it looks like trash pickup will come a week late. Fulton is also under an emergency right now until they get things cleaned up. Maybe Jeff Brown, our DPW head man will send some plows their way to pitch in????

For those of us in the GSB cities we can only look at the snow (depressing) in other cities right now which is pretty pitiful in my opinion. I was hoping that the band of snow off the lake would have come a little further south to Syracuse but like last year when all the heavy stuff hit the north it just wouldn’t quite reach us. Anyways you can check out the Tug Hill area using the cam mentioned above. My daughter will be heading back to Suny Oswego come Wednesday as her Christmas break ends and you can check out what she has to look forward to by going to the Suny Oswego cam at http://www.oswego.edu/webcam/index.html . Have a Great Week All!

Just a heads up on the weather and also the comments received so far about how we all feel about snow have been great. Thanks and plenty more views are wanted so keep leaving your comments about how snow effects you at http://goldensnowball.com/2008/01/snow-lovers-and-haters-opinions-needed.html .

It looks like another near hit storm that will most likely miss or at the most just graze most of the Golden Snowball cities. The storm that is coming up the coast and is just about to reach us all is pretty much doing the same as the last storm is. Staying to far East to give us any decent amounts of snowfall. I’m going to say it again.

Buffalo watch your back because you are soooo close to dropping to last place. I think my bias is starting to show a little huh. I just think it will be fun to see either Binghamton and Albany ahead of any of the big 3 and be at the bottom. Even if it is Syracuse or Rochester but right now it’s Buffalo trying to fend off the last place spot.

What is pretty cool in my opinion is that although Buffalo is close to falling to last place they aren’t that far out of first place as far as snow totals go for the contest. Just think about it. There is only about 22 inches separating last place Binghamton (that was fun to say) and first place Syracuse this year. We all know by now that change in the winds during a storm or lake effect snow one direction or the other can even things up pretty quickly. Rochester has been slowly building their snow pile numbers up and are sneaking Right up to Syracuse now less than 8 inches away from taking the lead over. My point is that this seasons snow contest is a lot closer than it might seem by looking at the stats.

Another thing, is it time for a snow dance. Looking at last years numbers that snowy December we had this season to give us all an above normal amount of snow has slowly slid away and things have pretty much caught up. I think we should give it another week and see how the lake effect snow plays out with the Arctic air moving in before we have to revert to the snow dance, using reverse Psychology or asking NYCO to put the Snow God on warning that it might end up back in the closet.

Enough said and please keep your responses coming about your feeling about out snow in the post I made the other day below. They are much appreciated and really interesting to read. For what it’s worth I’m forecasting that Buffalo drops at least one spot by tomorrow evening with a real possibility of dropping all the way to the bottom. Have a great evening all and Go Binghamton and Albany!!!!

Here’s where your help and input is needed and deeply appreciated. Since yesterday I have been doing an email exchange with Charlie English who is a journalist from London and who works for the Guardian ( http://www.guardian.co.uk/ ) is working on a book about snow and its effect on people? Charlie visited family in CNY in February of 2006 and really liked it and wants to know how we all feel about the snow we receive each year. I’m hoping for a good response from all of you New Yorkers who visit the Golden Snowball website so that Charlie can get a good feel as what kind of effect it has on all of us. Obviously some of us hate the snow and some of us love it.

Quite often the Golden Snowball website gets some interesting emails from people all over the state and even the entire country either asking about the weather or contest or voicing an opinion about the snowfall that New York state receives. Only once in awhile do we get emails from other countries asking about the snow and the Golden Snowball contest and in my opinion it’s pretty cool when it happens.

Below are a few questions that Charlie English is interested in for any of you willing to help out. You can just post your answers and feelings by clicking on the comment link and remember they get moderated before they post so don’t worry if it doesn’t show up right away. You don’t have to sign up to post a comment here, you can just check either the anonymous spot or the nickname box and type a name in there. You don’t have to use your real name but PLEASE let us know from what part of New York you are from and thanks for your responses.

Some Questions;

One of the questions Charlie has is about the Psychological effect the snow has on you. Does it put you in a better mood when it’s snowing out or does the snow get you down a little bit or a lot.

Does it have an affect on our sense of humor during the snow season? How about your family or friends?

What helps you to get by during the snowy months? Playing in it or just trying to avoid it completely.

I know that there comes a point for most of us other than the sledders and skiers where enough is enough. When is it enough for you? In other words come the first snowfall is enough already or can you deal with it much longer.

What do you like about our winters or for a couple of you what don’t you like about the snow? Yeah I know it’s more than a couple who don’t like the snow.

In summary I think what Charlie is looking for is pretty much your general opinion and how you feel about all the snow we get in New York. whether it’s a good or a bad opinion, mood swings and so on. Just chime away and your answers are appreciated. Make sure to add where you are from though whether it’s the Tug Hill area up north, Buffalo, Syracuse, Utica or wherever and thanks for taking the time. Have a great day all!