Golden Snowball

Buffalo Has Lead NY Snow Contest Almost From Start of Season

Posted by The Snowman on January 30, 2015
Posted in: Golden Snowball. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , .

Craig S. I just saw that there was a donation to the site in my PayPal and just wanted to personally (online of course) say Thanks!  It’s always a nice surprise to see.  Thanks again Craig, Patrick
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OK, I don’t know if season summary so far makes any sense but hopefully by now you are all use to my great grammar in my posts. Hey, I do try and By the way I do read the emails I get once in awhile from some of you correcting me and I don’t just blow them off 😉

Buffalo continues to lead the Golden Snowball contest and keeps adding to their snow lead over the rest of the cities. Buffalo has held the lead since around 11/17.2014  As of the last update Buffalo leads the next best city and defending snow champs Syracuse by 12.8 inches. It’s looking like all of the cities in the Golden Snowball Contest will be seeing some snow the next few days and hopefully longer 😉 The biggest problem the cities have been haing is that when they get some snow Buffalo gets just a little more and most of the time it’s just tenths of an inch of snow but it keeps adding to their lead…

I was curious so I just took a look back to see how long Buffalo has held the lead this season. I also wanted to see if there were any other leaders in the snow contest (Short Memory) and here is how the snow contest has played out so far.

Start of This Snow Season – Snowfall Totals Updated 11/8/2014

* Around 11/8/2014 Binghamton was in first place and was the city that started off the 2014 – 2015 snow season for the Golden Snowball Award with 0.2 inches of snowfall. WTG Binghamton 🙂

Binghamton 0.2 1.8 Trace 83.4 134.0 inches (1995 – 1996)
Buffalo Trace 2.0 Trace 94.7 199.4 inches (1976 – 1977)
Rochester Trace 1.1 0.2 99.5 161.7 inches (1959 – 1960)
Syracuse Trace 1.6 0.2 123.8 192.1 inches (1992 – 1993)
Albany Trace 0.3 Trace 59.1 112.5 inches (1970 – 1971)

Syracuse Takes The Snow Lead

* Syracuse took the lead over on or around 11/14/2014 with 2.9 inches of snow and held the lead until around 11/17 Our current leader, Buffalo was in last place at the time.

Syracuse 2.2 2.9 0.4 123.8 192.1 inches (1992 – 1993)
Binghamton 1.3 2.7 2.0 83.4 134.0 inches (1995 – 1996)
Buffalo 0.2 3.3 0.7 94.7 199.4 inches (1976 – 1977)
Rochester 0.2 2.2 1.8 99.5 161.7 inches (1959 – 1960)
Albany 0.1 0.7 Trace 59.1 112.5 inches (1970 – 1971)

Buffalo Take The Lead From Syracuse

* Buffalo took the lead from Syracuse the following day on or around 11/18/2014 and Rochester also passed Syracuse and jumped into 2nd place.

Buffalo 4.0 4.3 0.7 94.7 199.4 inches (1976 – 1977)
Rochester 3.2 3.1 1.8 99.5 161.7 inches (1959 – 1960)
Syracuse 2.9 4.0 0.4 123.8 192.1 inches (1992 – 1993)
Binghamton 2.9 3.4 2.0 83.4 134.0 inches (1995 – 1996)
Albany 1.0 1.0 Trace 59.1 112.5 inches (1970 – 1971)

Buffalo and Syracuse Tie for 1st, Buffalo Still at Top

* On January 7th or 8th Buffalo and Syracuse were tied for 1st place in the snow contest with 34.0 inches each.

Buffalo 34.0 42.7 55.3 94.7 199.4 inches (1976 – 1977)
Syracuse 34.0 49.9 51.9 123.8 192.1 inches (1992 – 1993)
Binghamton 31.6 29.5 46.0 83.4 134.0 inches (1995 – 1996)
Rochester 29.8 35.3 48.0 99.5 161.7 inches (1959 – 1960)
Albany 26.6 20.4 31.6 59.1 112.5 inches (1970 – 1971)

Buffalo is the King of the snow contest for now and has been the King since around November 18th of 2014. Way to go Buffalo! Can Buffalo or should I say will Buffalo finish out the snowball fight this season? Stay Tuned and It’s hard to believe that we have only had 3 leaders this far into the snow season.

Have a Great Day Everyone 😉

Can Albany Sled To The Top of Snow Contest

Posted by The Snowman on January 26, 2015
Posted in: albany snow, Golden Snowball. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Updated 1/28 1:00 PM – It looks like Albany did pick up some snow after all. I did see on the radar yesterday that the clipper or whatever it was did head more west during the day and that it was passing through Albany. The snow stats that were just updated added another 5.6 inches to Albany’s snow totals which would bring their 2 day total to 5.8 inches of fresh snow.

Here is where it gets weird 😉 Albany, NY is actually still in the running for the Golden Snowball trophy believe it or not. Are they a long shot to win it all? No doubt about it but if that storm would have come just a little more to the west the chances are that Albany could have been winning the snow contest. I have to wonder after the last couple of weeks if we may be set in a pattern now for the second half of the snow season. The last couple of weeks have been active as far as snow and storms go and it looks like the next few days it may continue. Keep in mind though that I am clueless and check with the pros for the latest weather.

Last season at this time Albany was over 43.5 inches behind Buffalo which led in the snow contest. This season they are only 17 inches behind which could be made up in a matter of a couple of snow storms. All of the cities in the GSB contest are lagging behind their average snow totals to date and Syracuse really stands out being almost 30 inches off their normal average to date this season. This could be the season that Albany wins it all. Wow, I just woke up from a bad dream 😉 I wouldn’t get your hopes up too high my friends in Albany 😉

Have a Great Day All…

Updated 1/27 12:00 PM – I must have gotten caught up in the hype yesterday about Albany 🙁 As of the last update they remain in last place and only 0.2 inches of snow is being reported for yesterday. Keep in mind that the overnight snow isn’t being reported yet. It looked like the storm stayed just to the East of Albany pretty much keeping them out of all of the snow action that some of the other cities to the east received.

NYC also dodged most of the heavy snow with the storm hanging just a snowflake to the north but WOW some of the other cities are getting hit really hard by the snow storm that will be hanging around the northeast coast most of today.

Buffalo has added a little to the lead the last couple of days and now have a lead over 11 inches of snow over the next best snowiest city Syracuse. Rochester and Binghamton continue to slip and slide back and forth in the number 3 and 4 slot on the snow hill and this time it’s Rochester coming out on top and dropping Binghamton down to the fourth place spot 😉 Even though it’s been a pretty lame snow season for most of us the snow contest is still really close and all 5 cities actually have a shot at winning the Golden Snowball trophy still this season. Stay tuned for another update a little later and have a great day…
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Updated 1/26 9 PM – Albany isn’t reporting as of the last update so it’s hard to tell how they are doing today. Binghamton got enough snow to pull ahead of Rochester. Stay tuned because when and if Albany reports it should be interesting 😉
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No, no and Hell NO! There will be no crazy talk like that 😉 OK, there is a slim possibility I suppose but it will take a lot of snow from this snowstorm to slip past Buffalo and I don’t see that happening. Looking at what is in the forecast for Albany I think they have a real shot though at sledding all the way past Syracuse to claim the number two spot on the snow hill if Albany gets the high end of snow totals in their forecast. Wow, I think this is one of the longest posts I have made about Albany since keeping the snow stats for the Golden Snowball Contest… I wonder if our leaders in the capital took the next couple of days off 🙂 I wonder if they have to shovel 😛

Albany trails Buffalo right now by a little over 20 inches of snow and is behind second place Syracuse by 9 1/2 inches. The last forecast I saw for Albany which was as of around 11 am today they were under a winter storm warning until 1 am Wednesday and calling for anywhere from 7 – 14 inches of new snowfall. Of course a slight change in the path of the storm could drop more snow or less so it will definitely be interesting to see where Albany ends up when this snow storm is done dumping snow on Albany. Click Here for The Latest Warnings and Updates for Albany!

From what I have seen it’s still looking like just a few inches of snow for the rest of the cities. NEVER take our word for it here though and always check with the pros like your local news channels and the National Weather Service. Things are always changing with these types of snow storms. Stay Tuned for more updates as the winter storm approaches and as the snow stats come in from the National Weather Service.

There is a lot going on in the National Snow Contest the Golden Snow Globe. Several of the cities on the east coast that have been quiet all season like New York City, Boston, Worcester and others should be climbing the snow mountain and maybe a few will make it into the top 10 or top 5. You can check that out Here at Golden Snow Globe..

Have an Awesome Day All and as Always, See Snow – Drive Slow!

More Than Halfway Thru Snow Season Buffalo Leads

Posted by The Snowman on January 25, 2015
Posted in: Golden Snowball, new york snow contest. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

A Big Thanks to Margaret S. for your donation to the website. As always they help big time and the timing was perfect. Thanks Margaret, I truly do appreciate you taking the time 🙂
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A SNOW DANCE HAS BEEN PERFORMED 🙂 Time for Syracuse to make their move in the snow contest… To all of the meteorologists, your equipment is fine and don’t mind the weird pattern changes on the radars in the near future. Just a little snow dance, that’s all 😉

I have to say that I am impressed with Buffalo so far this season holding on to the snow lead as long as they have. I would guess looking at the snow stats that sometime last week we hit the halfway mark for the 2014 – 2015 snow season. Of course none of us have a clue as to what Mother Nature and Father Winter have in store for us in the second half. If the last several days are any indication it could be a stormy second half to the snow season. There is another storm moving into some of our areas so keep an eye on it. This storm should help Albany out and maybe Binghamton. Click Here to Keep Updated on The Snow Storm!

Check out the current snow stats and you will notice that the normal snowfall averages to date for this time of the year are more than half of what each of the cities average for the snow season. In other words Buffalo has 56.4 inches of snow for what their normal snowfall should be to date which is more than half of what their Entire season on average totals are which is 94.7. It’s the same with the rest of the cities in the GSB snow contest.

Syracuse to date on average has 68.9 which is more than half of the total snowfall for an average season. Binghamton shows the normal snow to date at 42.0 inches which is just over their normal total season snowfall of 83.4. Rochester’s normal is 51.2, again just more than half of what the totals are for the entire season which are 99.5. Wrapping it up with Albany who by the way we may want to keep an eye on the next couple of days normals are at 30.4 and are just over half of the normal seasonal snowfall of 59.1 inches of snow… As always keep in mind that my fuzzy math shows up every now and then 😉

So I would think it is safe to say that we have all made it through the first half of the Snow Bowl and it was pretty lame for most of us. I don’t think the second half is going to be as easy though if the past several days are an indicator. Another clipper that turns into a coastal or Nor’easter has already shaped up and some blizzard warnings are being post for some of the cities on the Northeast coast. Right now it is looking good for Albany and maybe Binghamton will be able to sneak some of it into their city to climb up the snow hill a little.

Rochester and Syracuse both have some kind of snow bubble over the cities. As of the last update both Binghamton and Rochester are tied for 3rd place or is that tied for 4th place? The scary part or embarrassing part is that one of those cities may be in last place by the end of Tuesday or even sooner depending on how this storm tracks and when. I think it would be funny to see Albany at the top of the snow hill after this storm is done with them. I think they trail Buffalo by too much right now but I do think they have a chance at taking the number 2 slot on the snow hill. Stay tuned and I’ll be posting the snow updates as they come into me.

Have an Awesome Weekend Alll!

Lake Erie Ice and Syracuse & Rochester Slowly Closing Snow Gap

Posted by The Snowman on January 19, 2015
Posted in: Golden Snowball. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

A Big Thanks to Jack R. for your donation to the snow site. They really help offset some costs and time spent on the site. Thanks again Jack 😉
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Buffalo was almost 14 inches ahead of Last seasons snow champs Syracuse but the snow lead has melted away this past week just a little bit. Rochester has managed to slip past Binghamton, NY and is now if the 3rd slot on the snow hill with Binghamton right behind both Syracuse and Rochester. Will Buffalo and Rochester’s snow slow down when Lake Erie freezes over? Beats me, lol 🙂

Snow on Bushes in Syracuse

See Lake Erie Ice Cover Pictures Below – There is still a lot of talk going on about Lake Erie getting ready to completely freeze over and at last check it is pretty close to doing just that. I think the question is will that slow down Buffalo and Rochester at all. I’m still thinking how fast Lake Erie froze over last season and how Buffalo managed to keep adding to their snow totals even after the lake was frozen. One explanation was posted in a comment and I’ll share it here. Here is a comment from Bryan W. on the National Snow Site, The Golden Snow Globe:

UPDATED 1/21

An Animation of Ice Cover on Lake Erie from Jan 19th – Jan 21st

“There can still be lake effect from effects of friction off the ice, any open water from cracks that open in the fluctuating ice fields, and moisture transport through the ice in areas where ice isn’t real thick. There have been some good lake effect storms even w/ ice cover, but overall nowhere near what occurs w/ open water.Lake effect off Ontario never really slows down until the sun angle gets high enough in mid to late February (which only provides brief disruptions to the bands in the afternoon hours).”.

There is still a lot of snow season left and it will be interesting to see how he second half of the 2014 – 2015 snow season plays out. Buffalo has a pretty good lead right now and the obvious question is can they hold onto it this season? The other question is can Rochester, Syracuse or Binghamton even start their snow season up in the Golden Snowball Contest. I don’t think that they want to wait too long. Stay Tuned, it’s sure to get more interesting than it’s been 😉

Lake Erie Ice Cover From January 10th, 2015 To January 19th, 2015

LAKE ERIE ICE COVER JANUARY 19th
Lake Erie Ice Cover January 19th

LAKE ERIE ICE COVER JANUARY 10th
Lake Erie Ice Cover January

Click Here for All of the Great Lakes and the ice cover so far.

Have an Awesome Night All!

Ohio State Buckeyes 2015 Football Champions Sports Apparel, Sweatshirts and T-Shirts

Posted by The Snowman on January 13, 2015
Posted in: Golden Snowball, Shopping. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

Check out the new Ohio State Buckeyes championship college football gear and sports apparel, Ohio State championship t-shirts and sweatshirts. CONGRATS Ohio State and I had you picked for the last two weeks. You played a great game and showed that you deserved to be in the very first college football playoffs.

Ohio State Buckeyes National Champions – Championship Clothing and College Sports Apparel

The Oregon Ducks played a good game too but even with the Ohio State turnovers couldn’t keep up with the Buckeyes. I was impressed that Ohio States quarterback Cardale Jones play with the confidence of a QB that it normally takes at least a couple of years of full time experience on the football field to gain. WTG Cardale Jones and you played like a Heisman candidate the last two games IMO.

Congrats to the Oregon Ducks on a Great Football Season

Click Here for Oregon Ducks Championship Playoff Football Clothing and Apparel

Great College Championship Game and Congrats to Ohio State Buckeyes 🙂

Buffalo Starting to Sled Away From Other Cities

Posted by The Snowman on January 10, 2015
Posted in: Golden Snowball. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

Updated 7:00 PM 1/12 – Buffalo continues to add to their snow lead and are now almost 14 inches ahead of the next snowiest city, Syracuse. Albany was hanging in with the big boys for awhile but are starting to slip behind (go figure) and are now trailing the top spot by almost 2 feet of snow. Of course one Nor’easter that hangs to the east could put them back in the running.

Buffalo remains in 3rd place in the National snow contest as of yesterdays update and keeping up pretty good with the number 1 and 2 cities in that snow contest. There is still a lot of time left in the snow season for any of the cities to make a run 😉
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Updated 1/10 – I mentioned earlier that I was curious as to what the ice cover is on Lake Erie right now and T.W. posted a good link for me in the comments. Thanks T.W. 😉

Wow kind of comes to mind when I see how wide open it is right now. I was thinking that most of Lake Erie wouldn’t have any ice on it because of how warm it’s been up until this last week but wasn’t expecting the whole lake to be pretty much wide open. Instead of a snow dance for Syracuse I might be better off doing a cold dance for Buffalo to help slow down their Lake Effect Snow Machine, Lake Erie 😉

Lake Erie Ice Cover January

Click Here for All of the Great Lakes and the ice cover so far.

Buffalo is starting to pull away from the rest of us in the snow contest. They picked up another half a foot of snow yesterday, 6.5 inches of new snow and now lead last years snow champs Syracuse by over 9 inches. It seem like just a couple of days ago those 2 cities were tied. Oh Yeah, they were.

Buffalo is also doing pretty good in the National snow contest this season and as of the last update in that snow contest Buffalo was in 3rd place behind Erie, Pa and Grand Rapids. I’ll be getting an update in for the National Big city snow contest in a little bit.

The snow race is far from over of course and if you look at the snow stats above you will see that Buffalo had an even bigger at this time as they do right now. I thought for sure that last season was going to be Buffalo’s turn to wear the crown but they just missed by a couple of inches. Is this the season that Buffalo takes the victory lap around lake Erie.

Speaking of Lake Erie (ya like how I did that 😉 ) does anyone have any info on how much of it has frozen over so far? I’m thinking that a good portion is still wide open because of how warm it’s been up until this week which I think will give Buffalo the advantage. Then again Buffalo did pretty good last season even though Lake Erie froze over really early. Even after the lake froze over Buffalo was still picking up enough snow to stay near the top right til the very end.

Stay Tuned for Hopefully another update later today. Have a Great Day All!