golden snowball

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Binghamton, NY Has Half The Snow of An Entire Season

Posted by The Snowman on December 14, 2016
Posted in: Golden Snowball, new york snow contest. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , .

Binghamton, NY Keeps Piling on Snow Totals

I was just noticing that Binghamton, NY already has over half of their average total snowfall for the season already. Binghamton’s entire seasonal snow total on average is 83.4 inches of snow. Right now Binghamton has 47.8 inches of snow and chances are they will be getting more today. Only 35.6 more inches to go for Binghamton to hit their average snowfall for an entire season and Winter hasn’t even started yet.

Binghamton Has More Snow To Date Than Ever Before

This is the most snow Binghamton, NY has ever had at this time in the season if my math is right. Keep in mind my fuzzy math, though, it normally isn’t as most of you know by now 🙂

Binghamton is blowing away the highest snow totals they have ever had on this date, December 14th with 47.8 inches of snow right now. More than 10 inches of snow higher than the 2nd highest to date. The 2nd highest snowfall that Binghamton has had at this time in the season was 36.6 inches on December 14th, 1977.

This season Binghamton has been ahead of their all-time highest snowfall totals to date record almost all season starting on November 19th. I’ve said it more than once and I’ll say it again. It takes a lot to impress me as far as snow goes and Binghamton is impressing me big time this season. WTG Bingo 😉

Binghamton is already crushing the snow totals for the entire 2015-2016 snow season. Of course, last season Bingo only had 32.0 inches of snow and it was the lowest ever on record for Binghamton.

The only season I saw that came close to a time when Binghamton had this much snow so soon in a season was the 1993-1994 snow season. Even that season it took until January 4th for Binghamton to have as much snow as they do right now. WOW! The wow is because 1993-1994 snow season was Binghamton’s highest seasonal snowfall on record which was 131.3 inches of snow.

Binghamton still has a long way to go to hit the all-time high seasonal snow totals of 131.3 but they are off to a really good start. Could this be a repeat of that season?

Heavy Lake Effect in Forecast, Stay Safe

There are a few advisories and warnings out for the next day or two with the colder air coming into the area so check with the pros. It looks like you folks in Buffalo may be getting hit pretty good with some lake effect snowfall and no doubt it’s will be a nasty rush hour ride home. Stay safe all and have an Awesome day. See Snow-Drive Slow 😉

Snow For All The Golden Snowball Cities

Posted by The Snowman on December 6, 2016
Posted in: Golden Snowball, new york snow contest. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

Snow Here, Snow There, Snow Everywhere

Lake effect watches and warnings are starting to be posted by the National Weather Service now for some of the GSB cities and the surrounding areas for when the colder air comes in on Thursday and Friday. You all know I am clueless so check with the pros in your area for the latest update. I have a couple links posted below for the Rochester and Syracuse areas that are worth checking out and I’ll keep this post updated the next couple of days.

All of the Golden Snowball cities received some snow yesterday and it’s only going to get snowier later in the week for some of us. Binghamton, Syracuse, Rochester and even Buffalo and Albany got some fresh snow yesterday. Sorry about that dig to the folks in Buffalo but I need to get it in now because I know it’s only a matter of time before you are back in the snow race. Maybe sooner rather than later 😉

Binghamton cushioned their lead over last season’s snow champs, Syracuse yesterday picking up 0.9 inches while Syracuse picked up 0.5 inches of new snow. I know it’s not a lot but we all know every tenth of an inch counts in the long run. Albany won the round yesterday picking up 1.4 inches which was more than enough to keep Buffalo at the bottom of the snow hill. Below are the snow totals for yesterday.

Albany – 1.4
Binghamton – 0.9
Rochester – 0.9
Syracuse – 0.5
Buffalo – 0.3

Lake Effect Snow Forecasted For End of The Week

I’m starting to see reports of some decent Lake Effect Snow expected to come Thursday and Friday for some of the Golden Snowball cities. You know it’s all about fun here and that I am clueless so check with the pros for the latest forecast in your area. Here are a few of the forecasts with watches and warnings that have been issued so far. Click on the links below for the most recent watches and warnings.

Some of the snow totals from Lake Effect snow are expected to be a foot or more of snow for some of the cities so definitely keep an eye on your local weather. Below is as of 12/6 at around 2:00 PM. I guarantee most of this will be changing as the colder air comes in so save the link and keep up to date. These are from the National Weather Service stations in our areas.

Rochester – Lake Effect Snow Watch in effect from December 8, 06:00 PM EST until December 10, 06:00 AM EST Click here for more info on Rochester!

Syracuse – Lake Effect Snow Watch in effect from December 8, 06:00 PM EST until December 10, 06:00 AM EST Click here for more info on Syracuse!

I’ll keep posting updates as the National Weather Service puts them out. Like I mentioned above, your best source is your local forecasters. Have a Great Day and as always, See Snow – Drive Slow, unless you’re riding a sled of course 😉

Let The 2016-2017 Golden Snowball Games Begin

Posted by The Snowman on October 27, 2016
Posted in: Golden Snowball. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

Updated 10/28 1PM – The National Weather Service in Albany posted the snow stats for Albany and it’s now official, Albany leads the Golden Snowball contest. Really, I’m serious 🙂 It’s not too often I get to say Albany is leading but Albany received 1.7 inches of snow yesterday breaking the old date record set of 1.6 inches set back in 2011. WTG Albany!

Syracuse also set a date record picking up only 0.2 inches of snow but it was enough to break the old record of 0.1 set way back in 1962.

So, unless Buffalo has some snow to report come the next update, 4 out of 5 cities have snowfall so far which is a pretty good start for the 2016-2017 Golden Snowball contest. Stay tuned, it’s only the beginning 🙂

Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton, Albany Start the 2016-2017 Snow Season Contest Golden Snowball

The New York Golden Snowball for the 2016-2017 snow season has officially begun. As of the 5PM update from the National Weather Service Rochester, New York is reporting 0.9 inches of snow for today. WTG Rochester and I am still waiting for the NWS snow update for Syracuse and Binghamton. I have a feeling that both of those cities may have also received some measurable snowfall today. I could be wrong and remember, I normally am 😉

Updated 6PM – The new stats are out from the National Weather Service for Syracuse and Binghamton. Syracuse is showing only 0.2 inches for today and Binghamton is showing 1.0 inches as of this last update. I just read a tweet from the Albany National Weather Service reporting that Albany received 1.7 inches today. If this is the case it looks like Albany is in the lead. More to come on that if I hear back from the Albany NWS office.
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More Snow Stats for Syracuse and Binghamton Soon

Buffalo is only showing a trace of snow so far for the 2016-2017 snow season as of this update. Albany, NY isn’t reporting this update so we will have to wait on their stats come the next update. Check back in a few minutes and I should have the snow stats for both Syracuse and Binghamton if there are any to report. AND SO IT BEGINS 🙂

Let’s have a fun snow season like we do every season and more importantly, it’s going to be a long season so stay safe everyone!

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 😉

Three Days Left in NY Golden Snowball Snow Contest

Posted by The Snowman on April 28, 2016
Posted in: Golden Snowball. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

First, as always a big Thanks goes out to Xu Lailuyun for your donation to the snow site this season. Thanks for taking the time and they really do help. Thanks, Xu 😉
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OK, only 3 days left for the cities in the Golden Snowball snow contest to catch the defending snow champs, Syracuse. Yeah I know, it’s not going to happen and it’s been pretty much over for the last month or two. What a boring snow contest it has been this season 🙁

The snow contest ends on the last day of April which is coming up. Of course, if any of the cities decided to get more snow after that date I’m pretty sure we would add it to the totals but it would probably take an executive order from one of the Mayors from one of the cities to overturn this. I’m pretty sure that almost all of you out there aren’t hoping for more snow though 🙂

I do want to apologize for the lack of posts this snow season. I was able to keep the snow stats updated throughout the season but had a really hard time finding time to do as many posts as I normally do each season so I am sorry for that. The reason for that was a change in my living conditions and a couple of health problems. Nothing major and I also appreciate the several emails I’ve received this season from some of you asking if everthing was OK. Thanks!

The other reason for the lack of posts was the lack of snow. Wow, what a wimpy winter snow season we have all had this season. It’s hard to blog about snow when there wasn’t any most of the time. I think this will be the second lowest snow totals that a winning city will have since I started up the Golden Snowball website to keep track of the snow stats.

Stay tuned for the “It’s a Wrap” post come May 1st for the New York snow contest. I may have to wait a little longer for the National snow contest over at the Golden Snow Globe website.

Have a Great Day All!