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Happy 15 Year Anniversary GoldenSnowball.com

Posted by The Snowman on January 24, 2018
Posted in: Golden Snowball, new york snow contest. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

15 Years of Fun Keeping The Snow Stats on GoldenSnowball.com

Wow, how time really does fly and it’s 15 fun years as of January 23rd of keeping the snow stats for the Great New York Golden Snowball snow contest.  The snow contest has been around since the 70’s and took a break in the 90’s but it’s been rocking since it was started back up again. I really have enjoyed keeping the snow site going year after year and meeting all of the people I have met over the years online. Thanks for being a part of the snow site and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do 😉

I will be adding a lot more to this by the way 😉

15 Years of Fun, Fame and Fortune and Meeting People

OK, the fortune part hasn’t happened (Yet:)) but the fun, meeting hundreds of people online and even a little fame has happened. I’ve had interactions with hundreds of people online if not more over the 15 years of keeping the snow stats for the Golden Snowball snow contest. Mostly through emails that I receive, comments that people leave on the website and through our Snow Group Page on Facebook which has grown to almost 800 members. The snow group is a combination of men and women from all over the country that follow either the NY Golden Snowball contest or the National snow contest, The Golden Snow Globe. I’ve met many people online that love snow and many others that love to hate the snow. It’s all in fun and I have enjoyed the emails and comments which have been mostly good but then every now and then I’ll get some that let’s just say entertain me 😉

Hey, I Even Enjoy Some of The Complaints 😉

The biggest complaints that come to mind is the location of the airports and why isn’t my city or town in the snow contest. OK, yes Syracuse does have the advantage with their airport being in Canada but get over it. It is what it is and that’s what makes it even more fun when a city like Binghamton, NY is able to beat Syracuse like Binghamton did last season. I think it was by 2 tenths of an inch. That was fun and what it’s all about. We know that Syracuse is the snowiest Big city in the United States but at the beginning of the season, I guarantee that there isn’t person on the planet that can say for certainty that Syracuse is going to win the New York snow contest or the National snow contest and I love that part of it 😉 Anyways, keep the emails and comments coming and feel free to join our snow group on Facebook. It’s a fun group 🙂

As for why your city isn’t in the snow contest there are two reasons. When I started up the website to keep track of the snow stats I kept the 5 original cities that have been in the snow contest. I talked to several people and the cities were Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse. Would I have a problem adding another city to the snow contest such as Utica? Probably not but as of right now Utica as far as I know doesn’t have an officially certified measuring station by the National Weather Service that I am aware of. There are other cities that are in the same situation. I did try to start up a smaller city snow contest several years back but I just couldn’t come up with any snow stats or if I did they were being reported maybe once a month. It didn’t work out.

How Goldensnowball Got Started 15 Years Ago

I started up the Golden Snowball website back on Jan. 23rd, 2003 after coming across and reading an article about the snow contest that was written by Sean Kirst that he wrote back in 2001.  This is the article by Sean that has been updated since.  WHILE BUFFALO GETS THE PRESS, SYRACUSE GETS THE SNOW. There is no doubt that Sean Kirst is the biggest reason the snow contest took off again and it’s been fun over the years talking to him about it from time to time:) It’s always fun when the phone rings and it’s Sean on the other end. That’s what the snow contest has been to me and hopefully all of you, just fun while passing the winter months away.

I started to research what the snow contest was about, what cities were in it back in the 1970’s, why it stopped and so on. I became fascinated with some of what I was coming up with while researching the snow contest and made a few calls. I figured the main person to call was one of the originators of the Golden Snowball snow contest back in the 70’s, Peter Chaston. I was lucky enough and I was able to track down Peter Chaston at a company he had out of state. Steve McLaughlin and another meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Buffalo Tom Niziol, also played a big part in getting the Golden Snowball contest resurrected again. You can read more about the origins of the Golden Snowball snow contest here on The About The Snow Contest Page.

The Local and National Played a Big Part in The Golden Snowball Contest

The media has been kind to our MY snow contest and also to the website. Sean Kirst has been the biggest reason for the Golden Snowball contest growing and also helping get the website noticed over the years. He has written many articles about the snow contest that people didn’t have a clue about including myself 15 years ago. There are many other journalists, meteorologists, news stations, etc that have played a big part over the years on bringing the snow contests and snow sites to the attention of people. Both local and National.

I’ve done many interviews over the years and believe me, I don’t do them well especially the live interviews. A few live interviews that come to mind are a couple that I did with Bob Joseph, Host Binghamton Now News Radio 1290 WNBF. I had fun but I’m sure I bored his audience to death 😉 Another one was with Stephanie Abrams and Mike Bettes the 1st week that their show started on the Weather Channel. Like I said, I don’t do live TV to well and I could hear one of my kids and my mother laughing in the background while I was doing the interview and said snowmans instead of snowmen. Yeah, it went downhill from there. Another one that I believe was live was with Tom Niziol from the Weather Channel a couple of years back. I had fun with that interview because Tom knows just as much about snow and lake effect as probably anyone else living. I tried to turn the interview on him during our sound check but Tom didn’t budge. That was fun.

Hanging With Sean Kirst, Dennis Nett, and Meeting Mayor Miner

One of my favorite interviews was hanging with Sean Kirst for a couple of hours downtown along with photographer Dennis Nett who were both with the Post Standard at the time. It was my Birthday and I went out the night before to celebrate with some family and friends. Needless to say, I could have felt a little better for that interview. Sean never really let me know exactly what was going to be going on but told me to meet him at the Post Standard which I did. That was cool in itself because Sean gave me the grand tour along with introducing me to Dick Case, his Editor, and several other Post Standard journalists as we waited for Dennis to show up. Dennis shows up and out we go into the cold with a ton of snow because it snowed a lot the night before 🙂

The first stop was the Mayor’s office where the Golden Snowball trophy was on a shelf just outside the Mayor’s office. I can’t remember if he had it planned ahead of time to take the trophy or if he talked the Mayor’s secretary into letting him/us take the trophy for a walk downtown. Either way, out the door we went with me holding the Golden Snowball trophy. The only reason I was holding the trophy was that Sean and Dennis were too afraid to hold it and made me. If you have ever seen the trophy, it is beautiful and has a glass ball filled with flecks of gold that sits loosely on top of the trophy. So here I am, walking down the slippery fresh covered sidewalks and roads carrying the trophy thinking about one thing and one thing only, don’t slip, drop it and break it. I tried several times to pass it off but to no avail. I was thinking of what Sean’s story was going to be the next day. The Oracle of the Golden Snowball drops trophy and breaks it. Luckily that never happened and Dennis got some really great pictures that day. My favorite was the picture below.

Picture of Golden Snowball Trophy in Snow

On our way back to return the trophy we ran into Mayor Miner on the steps as she was coming back from assessing all of the snow that fell, how the weight on the roofs of some of the buildings were and seeing what needed to be done. She graciously posed with the trophy and it was nice meeting her. She agreed that Syracuse should embrace the snow we receive and find a way to celebrate it and use it to the city’s advantage.

Yes, I am rambling on and will try to wrap this up. The day ended with Sean surprising me with an on-camera interview. Something they just started doing at the Post Standard and Syracuse.com and something that I really hate, being in front of a camera. It was Sean Kirst so of course, I agreed to do it and luckily he carried the whole conversation as I kind of just sat back and listen. That really was a fun day though and one of many memories of keeping track of the Golden Snowball the last 15 years.

I have so many memories that I could go on for days but I will spare ya’s 😉 This site is all about one thing and that is trying to pass a little fun along as a lot of us wait for the warmer months to arrive.

The Golden Snowball snow contest and the site still lives on because of 2 reasons. All of you who visit the website and hopefully enjoy it and also because of the folks in the news media that pass it along to their readers. Thanks to all of you and Cheers to another 15 years.

Have a Great night all and Thanks for the memories 🙂

Binghamton Wins 2016-2017 Golden Snowball Snow Contest

Posted by The Snowman on May 1, 2017
Posted in: Golden Snowball. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

First off as always, I want to give a Big Thanks to those of you who made a donation to the snow site this season. They really help out with offsetting some of the costs and time spent on the snow contest each season. If you enjoyed the Golden Snowball snow contest this season, feel free to hit the donate button and a Big Thank You in advance 😉
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Binghamton Wins Golden Snowball Snow Contest

Updated July 1st 2017 – The 2016-2017 snow season has come to and end as of yesterday, June 30th and it’s Binghamton at the top of the snow hill over Syracuse by 3 tenths of an inch. Don’t be sad that the season has ended because as of today, July 1st the 2017-2018 snow season has begun. A big congratulation to Binghamton, New York on winning the Golden Snowball snow contest.
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WOW! A huge CONGRATULATION to Binghamton, New York on winning the Golden Snowball contest for the 2016-2017 snow season. Binghamton defeated last season’s snow champs and seasonal favorite Syracuse, NY to take the top spot on the Golden Snowball snow hill. Binghamton also broke several records including the big one which is the snowiest season on record with a total so far this season of 135.2 inches of snowfall which was 3 tenths of an inch more than Syracuse received which was 134.9 inches.

It’s been something like 34 years since Binghamton last won the Golden Snowball snow derby. The last time Binghamton won was in the 1982-1983 snow season. How long ago was that? The #1 song on May 1st, 1983 was “Beat It” by Michael Jackson which gives you a good idea. Our President was President Ronald Reagan! Most importantly, the Speedie Fest along with a balloon rally started up in Binghamton and I believe it draws about 100,000 people while it’s going on.

Live Interview With Bob Joseph Radio 1290 WNBF in Binghamton

I did just get off the phone doing a live call into Bob Joseph who is a radio host on the Binghamton Now News, NY. It was a fun live conversation and I kind of liked his idea about jumping in his car and heading to Syracuse and give it to Mayor Stephanie Miner about how Binghamton kicked butt. He was talking all in fun of course and it was really was fun talking to him even though I don’t like doing live anything 🙂

May 1st Is The Date Picked To Wrap Up Golden Snowball Contest

I will say that I’m a little nervous about calling the snow contest today with Binghamton only leading Syracuse by 3 tenths of an inch as of yesterday, April 30th. That said, several years ago a representative of a former mayor’s office wanted to lay some ground rules and calling the snow contest on May 1st was one of them. According to the National Weather Service, the snow season starts on July 1st and ends on June 30th. So far throughout the past seasons, May 1st has worked as far as I know or at least since I started keeping track of the snow stats so fingers crossed it plays out OK again this season 🙂

I did talk to Ted Champney at the Binghamton National Weather Service and he seemed to be pretty confident or as confident as anyone can be with just 3 tenths of an inch separation Binghamton and Syracuse that there most likely won’t be any changes in the Golden Snowball line-up.

I also asked Wayne Mahar, Molly Matott on Facebook live what they thought about the long term and both seem to think we are in the clear. Jim Teske responded to a tweet of mine which I think pretty much says it all. At this time of the season, the one thing that favors Binghamton is Elevation, Elevation, Elevation 🙂

So, barring any adjustments or corrections by the National Weather Service my fingers are crossed that Mother Nature stays in line and that the line-up stays the same. Binghamton deserves it this season for the amount of snow they have had which is over 50 inches of snow more than what they receive on average each season.

The National Golden Snow Globe Snow Contest Still Going

Keep in mind that the National Golden Snow Globe snow contest is still going on and Syracuse holds a big lead in that contest. I’m still seeing some cities picking up some snow and a couple of states have received some decent snow totals in the last couple of days. I’m sure I will be calling that snow contest sooner rather than later this season so check the snowiest Big city in the country snow contest out at the Golden Snow Globe website.

I will still be updating as needed and I will most likely be adding more to this a little later along with a season summary in a few days. Have a Great day everyone and CONGRATS BINGHAMTON, NY!

Binghamton Snows Away From Syracuse, Once Again

Posted by The Snowman on December 29, 2016
Posted in: Golden Snowball. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , .

Binghamton Likes it On Top of the GSB Snow Hill

OK, Binghamton, NY has once again defended the Top spot on the Golden Snowball snow hill. Binghamton was able to not only hold off today’s charge up the hill by Syracuse, NY but was able to push them back down a little further. WTG Bingo!

Syracuse was able to close in on Binghamton the last day or so and was only 2 tenths of an inch away from reaching Binghamton. I was watching the radars thinking Syracuse may have slipped into the top spot today but it turns out that Binghamton won this snowball fight picking up 2.5 inches of snow so far today compared to Syracuse’s 1.4 inches so far. This is as of 5 pm according to the National Weather Service.

City Snow Totals From Yesterday, 12/27

    * Binghamton – 2.5 inches of snow
    * Buffalo – 2.5 inches
    * Albany – 2.1 inches
    * Syracuse – 1.4 inches
    * Rochester – 1.1 inches

    Binghamton King In The Golden Snowball Contest So Far

    It will be interesting to see what the rest of tonight has in store and also the next couple of days. If I were a betting man, oh yeah, I am 🙂 I think I’ll be putting my money down on Syracuse to gain the lead come tomorrow evening snow update. Syracuse has lead the National Golden Snow Globe contest for a good part of the snow season but has yet to lead our great NY Golden Snowball contest this season.

    Click Here for the National Golden Snow Globe Contest

    Binghamton started the 2016-2017 snow season off in the Golden Snowball contest in 1st place back on October 27th picking up an inch of snow. So far this season Albany (Really) was the only other city to hold the top spot in the snow race.

    Buffalo, believe it or not, has been in last place a good part of the snow season up until the last couple of weeks, give or take. Buffalo didn’t pass the 1 inch of snow mark until around December 6th or 7th but seem to be getting on a roll now.

    Rochester, NY, the only city that has beaten Syracuse since the Golden Snowball contest started up again seems to be content right now at just hanging in the middle of the pack. The best thing about this season so far is that, that, that it’s only just begun 🙂

    Click Here for the current snow stats!

    Keep and eye on your weather the next few days because there is a good chance it is or will be a little nasty. Check your favorite pros for you forecast and stay safe. Have a Great night All!

Binghamton, NY Has More Snow Than All of Last Season

Posted by The Snowman on December 6, 2016
Posted in: Golden Snowball. Tagged: , , , , , .

WOW! If my math and stats are right (normally are a little iffy 😉 ), Binghamton, New York already has more snow for the 2016-2017 snow season than they had for ALL of their last season (2015-2016). According to the National Weather Service out of Binghamton, they are reporting 3.1 inches of new snowfall for today, 12/6. That brings Binghamton’s snow totals for the 2016-2017 snow season up to 32.9 inches so far and counting with pretty much the entire season ahead of us.

For the entire 2015-2016 snow season which begins July 1st and ends June 30th Binghamton only had a seasonal snowfall total of 30.0 inches. I have to say that I am impressed that it’s only December 6th and Binghamton has already surpassed their entire snow seasons totals. WTG Binghamton and keep piling it on 😉

2015-2016 Snow Season – 30.0 inches of snow.
2016-2017 Snow Season – 32.9 inches of snow.

Click Here for All of The Current Snow Totals

WTG Binghamton 🙂

10 Years Since Buffalo, New York’s Freak October Snow Storm

Posted by The Snowman on October 12, 2016
Posted in: Golden Snowball, new york snow contest. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

Buffalo October Surprise – Freak Snow Storm 2006

I wanted to share a cool video of the October Surprise snowstorm that hit Buffalo 10 years ago. Steven Madsen, aka the General from Buffalo, put this together several years back and we posted it back then too. I’ve been trying to find some posts that we made on the Golden Snowball site 10 years ago but that was right about the time that we switched over to a new design. All I could find was a post from the 13th and 14th back in 2006 which is also below.

National Snow Contest Started

I also wanted to let everyone know that the National snow contest over at Golden Snow Globe started up yesterday. Billings, Montana is the first Big city with measurable snow so far for the 2016-2017 snow season. You can check out the snowiest Big city in the United States here!

Video and Pictures (pics coming soon) From Steven Madsen

Golden Snowball Posts About Buffalo Storm 10 Years Ago

A blast from the past. Below is all I could find, unfortunately, that I posted on the snow site about the Buffalo October snow storm 🙁

10/13/06 – Let the golden snowball contest begin. Buffalo struck first breaking a record for measurable snow this early in the season with 8.6 inches on Thursday and breaking the all-time record of 6 inches dating back to Oct 31st, 1917. Way to early to be getting pounded with snow. Something isn’t right when I can use the word pounded this early in the season. Unfortunately with the lakes temp being around 60 degrees the cold front that is bringing on the Lake Effect Snow (LES) is producing heavy wet snow that has brought down a lot of trees. Over 155,000 are without power and some reporting up to 300,000 without power, schools are closed and so on.

All I can say is after the dismal snow season Buffalo had last year, they are off to a good start this year. Hopefully everyone is OK and hopefully, they get the power back and things back to normal soon. Remember “See Snow – Drive Slow”. Have a Safe Snow Season All and Let The Contest Begin! I’m off to see if my foursome still plans on golfing today.

10/14 – Talk about getting a jump on the contest this year. Buffalo is leading by almost 2 feet of snow. After Fridays record snow totals of 14 inches, they are well on their way to dethroning the champions, Syracuse. Buffalo’s total snowfall so far this season stands at 22.6 inches. Hello, it’s October, not January. Now we have to wonder if any more measurable snow will fall anytime soon. Nothing as freaky as what hit Buffalo this week I’d bet on.

Let’s not forget Rochester. They also struck early setting their record that dated back to 1874. Their total stands at 0.4 inches. Lake effect snow has never ceased to amaze me. How one city can get close to 2 feet of snow and another city just down the road gets less than an inch. I suppose that’s what makes the Golden Snowball contest so unpredictable.

Looking at this year and last years start of the season I don’t know which is freakier. Buffalo getting the first snowfall of 22.6 inches in October to start the contest. Or last year when it was Albany who started the contest and was winning for a brief period. Stay tuned for the next snow update which should be in about a month. Lets hope anyways. Have a great weekend all!

Some Good Articles About the Snow Storm at Buffalo News
* 50,000 Trees Lost From October Snow Storm
* Remembering the 2006 Buffalo Snow Storm
* TJ Pignatara – Can it Happen Again

It’s a Wrap, Syracuse Wins 2015-2016 Golden Snowball Award

Posted by The Snowman on May 1, 2016
Posted in: Golden Snowball, new york snow contest. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , .

Defending snow champs Syracuse, NY has once again won the New York State Golden Snowball contest for the 2015-2016 snow season. Congrats to Syracuse. That’s all I have to say, really. Pretty much like the snow season was for most of New York, boring, that’s my post. I’M JOKING 😉

I’m looking back to when this snow season started up and the first post or snow update I did was on 10/19/2015. I’m guessing that was the first measurable snowfall this season but don’t hold me to it. It could have been the first time I looked. That update I showed Syracuse receiving 0.4 inches of snow and Binghamton receiving 0.3 inches.

The first lead change I’m showing was around 11/15 when Binghamton took the lead ousting Syracuse with just a tenth of an inch of snow at 0.5 inches. The next lead change was around 11/23/2015 when Binghamton, NY took the lead with an inch of snow. Rochester took the lead when the next report came out from the National Weather Service the next day with 1.2 inches.

The next lead change was around 12/20/2015 if my stats are right and it was Binghamton taking the lead with just 2.0 inches of snow on the season. I had to do a double look as I’m typing this to make sure I didn’t leave out a zero somewhere. That just goes to show you how boring this season was 🙁

Rochester took over the lead again on or around 12/28 with 3.2 inches of snow. I’m not making this stuff up folks, talk about a wimpy snow season. No wonder none of the New York cities won the National snow contest at the Golden Snow Globe website 🙁 Syracuse finally took back the lead on or around New Years Day with 4.4 inches only to give it up to Buffalo around 1/12 which had 7.9 inches. So as of January 12th, 2016 Buffalo had a whopping 7.9 inches of snow. Really! Lead changes so far are at 7 I believe 😉

OK, on or around 1/13 things started getting real, lol. Syracuse retook the lead picking up over a foot of snow and their totals jumped all the way up to 22.0 inches. Obviously the best snowfall for any of the cities to date. Buffalo also piled up some decent snow and their snow totals were at 15.3. The next 10 to 15 days pretty much made the season. Between January 13th and January 25th Syracuse was able to pile up around a 15 inch lead over Buffalo. Rochester was also adding to their snow totals but was in 3rd place as of 1/25.

Right around 2/15 – 2/16 Rochester was able to cash in on some really decent snow to slip past Buffalo to grab the number 2 spot on the snow hill. I’m thinking about 18 inches of snow. Buffalo was able to melt away an inch at a time off of Rochester’s 2nd place spot but just couldn’t get enough. I think the race for 2nd place this season was more exciting that the race for the trophy. Syracuse never looked back after taking the lead on or around the 13th of January.

April turned out to be a little surprising and actually being more exciting than November or December was. Go figure that one out. OK, I’m sure it has a lot to do with El’Nino. Speaking of El’Nino there is one thing I did learn this season. My snow dances don’t stand a chance against El’Nino 🙁 Not going to happen 😉

Food for thought – This is the 2nd lowest snow total that a winning city has had since I started keeping snow stats for the Golden Snowball contest which was back in the 2002-2003 snow season. The only other time that the snow totals were lower was in the 2011-2012 snow season. Rochester, New York won that season with 58.9 inches of snow beating out Syracuse’s 50.6 inches of snowfall on the season.

I believe the 2002-203 season was the first season that the Golden Snowball contest was resurrected since the late 1990’s. The snow contest started sometime back in the 1970’s and then had a pause when the National Weather Service in Rochester shut down. Looking back this season has to be one of the lowest snow totals that a winning city has had. You all can figure that out by checking out the snow stats that date back to the 1940-1941 snow season at http://goldensnowball.com/past-snow-seasons-champs/ . Notice that Syracuse wasn’t even listed until the 1951-51 season.

Congrats again Syracuse and have an AWESOME, SAFE Summer everyone 😉