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How The Golden Snowball Contest Started

Posted by The Snowman on April 4, 2014
Posted in: Golden Snowball. Tagged: , , , , , , .

First Off as always a big Thank You to Alison S. for your donation to the website. They help out a Whole lot with the cost and time spent on the site. I truly appreciate it Alison and Thanks again 🙂 Like you mentioned, the site is here to have some fun and to help pass the season by.
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Keep in mind that this is about how the website got started and when I got involved in OUR contest and also about how the whole contest started to begin with.  The part about how the contest started is by Sean Kirst and his article below which is awesome at explaining it. That article also started the resurrection of the snow contest.

I was reminiscing this week while answering emails and comments about when I first started the website site and how much it has grown since then.  I was wondering how long I have been keeping the snow stats, how long I have been the scorekeeper for OUR Golden Snowball contest and how long the site has been around.  I just took a look as to when I started the website up.  I bought the domain name goldensnowball.com on January 23rd, 2003 at exactly at 6:32:59 am.  Most likely that isn’t EST because I doubt I would have been up that early 😉  So as of Jan. 23rd this year it would have been 11 years since the website started and since I got involved in the snow contest.

All I can say is it has been a blast the whole time but with that said let’s give credit where credit is due which is with Syracuse’s own beloved columnist for the Post Standard and Syracuse.com, Sean Kirst.  More on Sean in a bit though because right now it’s about me, me, me, Marsha, Marsha, Marsha 🙂   Back in 2003 I heard something mentioned on one of the local news stations about a NY snow contest from the past that may be started up again.  So I decided to go online and check it out.  I wanted to see what it was all about and I came across an article that Sean had written about the contest which I am going to post below because it covers the contest from the beginning to where we are today.  It’s a must read to learn all about the Golden Snowball contest.

The Golden Snowball contest goes way back to the late 1970’s but it stalled out for a bit.  No, not because we didn’t get any snow those seasons but most likely because some of the National Weather Service stations were closed down.  You’ll read all about it when you read Sean’s article.  OK, it looks like we are back to Sean Kirst again 😉  He wrote an article about the old contest back in 2001 which is the first one I read back in 2003.  I looked around to see if there was a site for the contest and there wasn’t so I thought Hey, why not give it a shot and see where it goes. I did think Hey, really I did 🙂

So I started the website up and the first season would have been half way through the 2002 – 2003 snow season.  The site had something like 300 visitors.  The next season the snow site got about 5000 visits and it seemed to double each season for awhile.  This season the Golden Snowball site should have over a quarter of a million visits to the site and more than half a million page views.  It’s nice to see that every season more and more people become interested in the snow contest.  Like I said, it’s been a blast the whole time. So much fun that I decided to start up the Snowiest Big City in the United States snow contest which you can check out at www.goldensnowglobe.com

OK, back to Sean 🙂 (man did I bounce around)Below is an Awesome link to the first article about the contest by Sean Kirst that explains just about everything there is to know about the Golden Snowball contest from the beginning to where it is today. http://www.syracuse.com/kirst/index.ssf/2014/01/the_real_snow_kings_syracuse_a.html

Have a Great Weekend All 🙂

Buffalo is Like The Snow, They Just Won’t Go Away

Posted by The Snowman on March 30, 2014
Posted in: Golden Snowball. Tagged: , , , , , , .

First Off as always a big Thank You to Alison S. for your donation to the website. They help out a Whole lot with the cost and time spent on the site. I truly appreciate it Alison and Thanks again 🙂 Like you mentioned, the site is here to have some fun and to help pass the season by.
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Updated 3/30 7 PM – The evening snow totals just came out from the National Weather Service and The Golden Snowball contest just got a whole lot closer.

Buffalo ended up picking up 5.6 inches of new snow between last night and today. Buffalo has cut the lead that Syracuse had down to only 2.9 inches. No doubt this race is going to the end of the season. It may be the summer season but it’s going down to the end of one of the seasons 😉
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3/30 3:00 PM – As of the last update Buffalo is now only 4.8 inches away from storming the snow hill to tie Syracuse and just 4.9 inches away to be crowned King of the Golden Snowball Contest.

It seems like every time Syracuse has built up a decent lead this season Buffalo comes right back with a vengeance. I’ve been telling people for the last month or so not to count Buffalo out of the snow contest this season. Buffalo has stayed within at least a foot or so of Syracuse and normally when Syracuse gets that big of a lead they find a storm to tap into. In the voice of Ronald Reagan, “Well, There You Go Again” Buffalo 😉

Both Buffalo and Rochester tapped into this last storm that missed Syracuse and the other GSB cities picking up some decent snow for this time in the season. So far and most likely there will be more to add Buffalo has added another 3.7 inches to move them up to 126.8 inches on the season. Rochester picked up 4.8 inches of new snow to move their totals up to 108.5 on the season.

Buffalo also still has a real shot at taking the top spot in the National snow contest at www.goldensnowglobe.com . Buffalo has been holding on to the #3 spot on the snow mountain for awhile now right behind Syracuse and Erie, PA. Good Luck Buffalo 😉

Enjoy the rest of your weekend everybody!

Robins and Snowflakes Fill the Sky

Posted by The Snowman on March 26, 2014
Posted in: new york snow contest. Tagged: , , , , , .

First Off as Always – A big Thanks to James M. for your kind donation to the site. As always I cannot say enough how much I appreciate it and how they do offset the costs of the site and time spent on it. It’s nice to know that the site and hours that go into it are appreciated. Thanks again James and to the rest of you who have donated 🙂
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Are you one of those people that the glass is half full or half empty?  If it’s half full then the good news is that I had over 25 Robins flying around the yard today.  The Robins have returned which is a good sign of what is right around the corner 🙂  The not so good news for those of you with half empty glasses is that they were dodging snowflakes as they were chasing the squirrels away.

The Robins Have Returned

At one point there were about 15 of them digging for worms in a little spot that had some grass showing and of course the snow was all around them.  They must have eaten well on their trip back because they were fat.  Either that or they were all females waiting to lay some eggs sometime soon.  It’s just nice to see them back and rumor has it that come the end of NEXT week we may be turning the page on this winter season.

Syracuse continues to hold the top spot on the snow hill but Buffalo is still just a storm away from them.  I think it’s getting to the point, make that past the point where most people don’t want any more snow.

The National Snow Contest has been really close also with Erie, PA holding the lead for most of the season.  Syracuse was able to tie and then pass them but that only lasted for about a day.  Right now only 2 inches separate the top spot and Buffalo even has a slight chance at being crowned the Snowiest BIG City in the US.  You can check that out at www.goldensnowglobe.com .

Have an Awesome Night All!

Happy Spring All BUT The Snow Contest Goes On

Posted by The Snowman on March 20, 2014
Posted in: Golden Snowball. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Hey, some good news for you snow haters. In just a couple of hours you can look out the window and say Goodbye to Winter and Hello to Spring. The bad news is that the snow contest lives on for the main fact that we will probably be getting more snow 😉 But wait, there is more good news. The days start getting longer than the nights do now, Wooo Hooo 😉

Syracuse only has less than an 8 inch lead on Buffalo right now so even if we could it would be way too early to call it when it’s this close. Buffalo could slide past Syracuse with one decent storm and I don’t think we are done with the storms just yet. There was one the other day that hit the South but it didn’t come North enough to effect us.

It is the first day of Spring though so we know what is right around the corner. Most likely a long HOT summer and me whining about how hot it is every minute of the day. I’m joking, kind of 😉 I’m looking forward to hanging by the pool sipping on a Margarita errr, I mean soda pop and the smell of fresh cut grass…

Have an Awesome Day Everyone!

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day

Posted by The Snowman on March 17, 2014
Posted in: new york snow contest. Tagged: , , , , .

First, a big Thanks to Valerie A. for your kind donation. It means a lot and helps out a lot, Thanks for taking the time Valerie 🙂
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Happy St. Patrick Day to all my Irish visitors and to those of you who celebrate it 😉 I was just looking up some of my family’s names to see how we rank in Ireland. I was surprised that our names didn’t rank as high as I thought they would have. I’ll have to check the Canadian French and English version of our names.. How does you name rate?

My Oldest Son Shane Patrick = 11
My Daughter Danielle = 48
My Youngest Christopher Edward = 40
Me, Patrick Christian = 18
My Dad Edward George = 81

Here is a pretty good place I found to check the popularity of your names in Ireland out, both male and female.

Male – http://www.ireland-information.com/heraldichall/irishboysnames.htm
Female – http://www.ireland-information.com/heraldichall/irishgirlsnames.htm

Have a Great St Patty’s Day 🙂

National Weather Service in Binghamton Seeking Volunteers in College Majoring in Meteorology

Posted by The Snowman on March 14, 2014
Posted in: weather. Tagged: , , , , .

In college and majoring in Meteorology then this may be for you this summer. Warning though that the deadline for applications is fast approaching and ends March 15th. More info below and by clicking the NOAA links…

From the US National Weather Service Binghamton, NY


Do you know of a college student who is majoring in meteorology? If so, please SHARE this with them. The deadline is approaching so please read below!

In college and majoring in Meteorology then this may be for you this summer. Warning though that the deadline for applications is fast approaching and ends March 15th. More info below and by clicking the NOAA links…

The Binghamton National Weather Service are seeking applicants for our summer volunteer program. You must be a college student majoring in meteorology to apply. The deadline is March 24th. For complete information go here:
www.weather.gov/bgm/outreachStudentSummerInternship

***Note those who are not yet in college but are interested in a career in meteorology, we do offer office tours and/or job shadows. Here is more information on that: www.weather.gov/bgm/outreachStudentOpportunities -Erik

Looks like a great opportunity for an internship in your field. Spread the word if you know of someone who is majoring in Meteorology 😉