Feel Free to Buy me a cold one or Two :) Ok, it really helps offset some costs and maybe, just maybe a drink or two ;)
All of the cities in the Golden Snowball contest have been pretty quiet other than a few tenths of snow here and there. I did just update the National snow contest and we have a new leader in that snow race. You can check it out at www.goldensnowglobe.com .
Have an awesome week everyone 🙂
First off Thanks for the donation Cynthia B. It’s very much appreciated 🙂
Thanks to Jan also for the info and lnk on Lake Erie 🙂 Here is how Lake Erie is looking http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/ofs/leofs/now_temp.shtml Jan metioned that Lake Erie is still mostly in the mid 30s, with a few edges frozen over which the map shows:
Some of you may have noticed that the website was down for a day or so. Sorry about that and hopefully it’s up for awhile now. It still may not be up in some parts of the state or country but hopefully by the end of the day everyone can get to it again. Thanks Barry for the heads up on it also. I’m just able to get on now and update the snow stats.
While we were down here Rochester made their move. Not enough to catch Syracuse yet but they slid past Binghamton to move into second place on the snow hill. WTG Rochester. Most of the cities are just a storm or two away from taken the lead from Syracuse and now it’s just a matter of which city will step up first.
I think we all know that sooner or later Buffalo will make some kind of move to the top 😉 I think they better make it sooner rather than later before their Lake Effect Machine freezes over with this Arctic cold air around. Does anyone know how much of the lakes have frozen over yet?
Have an awesome weekend Everyone!
Just a heads up – the golden snowball site may be go offline for a couple of days. If it does I’ll get it up ASAP.
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OK, Syracuse finally picked up a few more inches of new snowfall to add a little bit to their lead. Most of the snow has been staying up north of Da’Cuse but has to drop south sooner or later I would hope. I also hope that the other cities, Rochester, Buffalo and Binghamton get it going pretty soon.
Binghamton has been doing good lately as far as the snow totals go managing to keep some snowflakes between them and the bottom three cities. It always looks like the snow is around Rochester but must just be missing them. I think with the coldest air of the season finally here that we all will be adding to our snowfall totals this week.
A picture from Grace, a friend in the Central Square area just taken!
There have been a few good bands of snow hanging to the north of Syracuse which is a good thing for the other cities. The last couple of days the lake effect snow bands will start to drop toward Syracuse but then suddenly stop right on the border. These are some decent snow bands too which have dropped probably close or over a couple of feet on the cities up north like Central Square, Oswego, Fulton, the Tug Hill area and other towns. No doubt the snowmobilers are loving it 🙂
I was just looking around at the national snow contest at www.goldensnowglobe.com which was updated yesterday. Syracuse still is in first place in the nationals but reading around today I see that Erie, Pa got pounded pretty good and may have taken the lead. Right now it’s close and it will depend on how Erie did overnight last night. I’ll try and get a top 10 update in later when the new snow stats come out. Unfortunately as it always seems the case the decent snow is to the south of Buffalo. Maybe Buffalo will pile on some snow with this cold air in place. Let’s hope so.
Have a Great Day Everyone 😉
First off make sure you check out the post below to enter our snow contest. Today is the last day to get your entries in. Check it out here 🙂
Any snow falling yet in Rochester, Buffalo or Binghamton? As of right now, around 2:15 pm Sunday it’s windier than I have seen it in a long time. The gusts and winds that came through this morning had to be over 60 mph I would guess. Hopefully some decent lake effect snow comes into the golden snowball cities sometime soon. Nothing like some decent snow totals with whipping winds to make for a cool snow event. Of course take it slow on the roads if and when the snow does hit us. Clouds are just starting to move into the Syracuse area as I type.
Hey, how about the Orange? WTG on taking down the #1 basketball team in the country
CONTEST CLOSED FOR NEW ENTRIES!
It’s been pretty quiet the last couple of weeks with none of the golden snowball cities adding to their total snowfall for the season. The cold air is back so hopefully the lake effect machine starts cranking up soon. Speaking of Lake Effect I think it’s time we have a contest with a real prize this time.
Not like the ones we always have with the winner getting a virtual pat on the back for winning. The prize for this contest is an autographed book by CNY’s own Mark Monmonier called Lake Effect. Mark has had several books published in the past and this is his latest book. I’m sure you all can figure out what it is about by the name (Lake Effect) of his book. Read more about Mark Monmonier and his books below.
The contest will be similar to the one that Stephen and I are playing on the national snow site www.goldensnowglobe.com . Here is what you need to do to enter and it’s for US residents only and if you have any questions feel free to contact me..
#1 – Guess the total snowfall that all of the Golden Snowball cities will have combined at the end of February. In other words add up the total snowfall for all 5 cities – Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse. An example is right now the total of the 5 cities would be 131 inches. You can go to the nearest tenth of an inch. EX: 156.2.
#2 – Tie Breaker Only – Pick the city that you think will be in second place at that time, the end of February 28th. We will use this only if there happens to be a tie in number 1, the total snowfall amount.
#3 – All entries must be received by 11:59 PM this Sunday, January 20th 2013. To enter for your chance to win this awesome autographed book use the contact page at the top of the site. Write Contest in the Subject box and be sure to add your total snowfall guess and what city you think will be in 2nd place. It’s that simple 😉
Of course as always we are not responsible for lost emails, blocked, etc, etc. In our own words if we screw up we’re sorry 🙁 Once we get your entry I will send you an email confirming that we did within a reasonable amount of time. Normally within a day or two. OK, more about Mark Monmonier’s book Lake Effect.
I’ve just been able to get a little reading in so far but from what I have read it’s interesting. One of the things that stand out so far and I’m only at the beginning is how long it took to find out about lake effect snow and how they did it. I’m looking forward to getting the time to finish the book.
CNY’s own Mark Monmonier and his 15 books have been written up in The New Yorker, The Globe, The Times Literary Supplement, Scientific American, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly and more
About the Book – Blending meteorological history with the history of scientific cartography, Monmonier charts the phenomenon of lake-effect snow and explores the societal impacts of extreme weather. Along the way, he introduces readers to natural philosophers who gradually identified this distinctive weather pattern, to tales of communities adapting to notoriously disruptive storms, and to some of the snowiest regions of the country.
Characterized by intense snowfalls lasting from a couple of minutes to several days, lake-effect snow is deposited by narrow bands of clouds formed when cold, dry arctic air passes over a large, relatively warm inland lake. With perhaps only half the water content of regular snow, lake snow is typically light, fluffy, and relatively easy to shovel. Intriguing stories of lake effect’s quirky behavior and diverse impacts include widespread ignorance of the phenomenon in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Since then a network of systematic observers have collected several decades of data worth mapping, and reliable short term predictions based on satellites, Doppler radar, and computer models are now available.
Moving effortlessly from atmospheric science to anecdotes, Monmonier offers a richly detailed account of a type of weather that has long been misunderstood. Residents of lake-effect regions, history buffs, and weather junkies alike will relish this entertaining and informative book.
Mark Monmonier is Distinguished Professor of Geography at Syracuse University. He is the author of fifteen books, including How to Lie with Maps; Air Apparent: How Meteorologists Learned to Map, Predict, and Dramatize Weather; Spying with Maps: Surveillance Technologies and the Future of Privacy; and Coast Lines: How Mapmakers Frame the World and Chart Environmental Change. Lake Effect Tales of Large Lakes, Arctic Winds, and Recurrent Snows BUY DIRECT from Syracuse University Press
GOOD LUCK ALL 🙂
It looks like we hit our January thaw and I’m kind of glad that we can get it out of the way. From reading around it looks like a few warm days are ahead of us and as I type the winds are gusting pretty good in the ‘Cuse area. Hopefully in the next couple of days the snow and ice on the roof melts so I can take the outdoor Christmas decorations down. I think it was just a few years ago when it was nonstop snow and cold when the lights were up until March.
The last post was about the snowman contest and I think it’s time we have one here at the Golden Snowball website. Not like our normal ones where you guesstimate the totals and win a pat on the back if you’re right. This one will be for a real prize 🙂 I’m still trying to figure out the details but it will be based on a little contest that Stephen and I have going right now on the National snowiest city website http://goldensnowglobe.com which was just updated by the way.
I already have a prize in mind which is an autographed copy of a book I received a couple of months ago based on lake effect snow written by weather expert author Mark Monmonier. He has several other books that are published and that are great reads for any weather enthusiasts. More to come in the next day or two.
Have a Great Day All!
