Binghamton Looking to Break Snowfall Record This Weekend

Or should that read Binghamton looking to break NO snowfall record this weekend. Daver mentioned in the forum that Binghamton is about to tie their record for the latest date that they have gone without any measurable snowfall. Look above and you can see they are showing zippo for the season. Dave said the record for no snowfall this far in the season for Bingo goes all the way back to December 1st, 1964. No snow in the forecast for tonight so they should at least tie the record and if they can avoid any snow that the cold front moving in later Friday might bring us then they have a good chance of breaking the 1964 record. Just think, Buffalo broke all kinds of records for earliest TONS of snow totals and Binghamton could break the NO snow record. It's going to be an interesting season for sure.

Of course if Binghamton was smart they might want to get moving right after they tie or break the record because as it stands they are tied with Albany for dead last in the Golden Snowball contest and trailing Buffalo by over 2 feet of snow before Winter has even started. I am still so pumped up about this years contest. With Buffalo having that big of a lead I'm thinking that none of the other GSB city's are going to catch them until at least sometime in January. It will be fun to watch how it all plays out though.

Click here to check out the new Christmas inflatables

Good News and Bad News

If your not a snow lover then the good news is that most of us have almost made it through the month of November with no measurable snowfall. If you look at the stats above all of us but Buffalo of course are falling behind our normal snowfall totals. Binghamton, Rochester and Syracuse are more than half a foot off their normal snow totals for this time of the year. Albany is, Albany is, well Albany is just Albany and like they really have a chance ; )o Buffalo with their great and early start at that is still kicking some butt but hasn't been able to keep adding which I think they might of wished they did come a month or two down the road.

The bad news or make that good news for snow mobiles and skiers is that I started my seasonal goatee which almost always means snow will be here soon. It's kind of a yearly ritual that once Thanksgiving is over I start growing the goatee which takes about 2 weeks to come in and then the snow starts blowing into the Golden Snowball cities. Kind of like my snow dance that I do in the middle of winter if things are too quiet snow wise. So in other words, look for some kind of snow in the next week or two depending on how long it takes to grow. Also look for a snowy winter this season because for some reason my beard is pretty white which must mean a snowy season and nothing to do with the fact of me getting older. Have a great week all!

Happy Thanksgiving All

Great kids, a great family and great friends. Who could ask for anything more? Our thoughts and prayers are with our troops and the less fortunate today. Have a great turkey day all.

Nothing new to report in the snowball race. We are still trying to come up with something as far as a trophy presentation goes. At last check it isn't looking too good for the first day of winter which I thought would be as close to a perfect date as we can get. It's a little too close to the Christmas holidays but another date is in the works. That all said, at least there WILL be a presentation this year to last years winning city, Syracuse. More to come as it plays out.

Below are a couple of links that has anything and everything you might want to know about Thanksgiving. Great reading!

The First Thanksgiving!

All About Thanksgiving

Just a Quick Update

Just a Quick night time update. I had to run to the store tonight and was surprised to see some snow on the car. Not a Lot but maybe about half an inch. I checked with NOAA to see if any snow was being reported for any of the GSB city's yet. Yup, Rochester is showing 1/2 an inch of new snowfall since 4 pm to bring their totals up to just under an inch for the season. The rest of us aren't showing anything new other than a trace. We'll see what the stats look like come tomorrow and I'll try to get an update on here. Look out Buffalo, here comes Rochester sneaking up on you.

Golden Snowball Trophy Presentation

I had the privilege of talking with Sheri Owens who is the director of the media for the city of Syracuse recently. We discussed the possibly of presenting the Golden Snowball trophy to the mayor for last seasons victory. I've talked to Sheri a few times and I have to admit she is one of the most pleasant people to talk to. I figured it was late on a Friday afternoon and I would probably be blown off but that wasn't the case at all.

I asked Sheri if there was any chance of presenting the trophy to the Mayor at the Christmas Tree Lighting but unfortunately everything is pretty much booked for that event which I can understand. Maybe next year we can try and get squeezed in for that event. I then asked if perhaps we could have a trophy presentation on the first day of Winter which seems only fitting. Snowfall trophy and the 1st day of Winter seems like a good match. Sheri said she will get back to me on it sometime next week.

The thing is that it is hard to come up with a good time to present the trophy. During a close snow race the Golden Snowball Contest might not end until the beginning of May. When we are sure that no more snow is going to fall. Remember it has snowed on Mothers Day before. It comes down to who cares about presenting the trophy to the winning city in May when most of us are planning our gardens, bike riding and so on. So that all said the only thing I can think of would be to present it sometime during the snowy season. Any thoughts or suggestions???

Is it Time for A International Snow Challange

Sean Kirst a journalist for the Post Standard in Syracuse has set the background for what would be, could be and should be a fun contest. Challenging a few cities in Canada to see who would get the most snowfall this season. You can read about it at http://www.syracuse.com/kirst/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1163757413131490.xml&coll=1

I'm all for it and more than willing to keep the stats up providing I can get them from Canada and I'm sure Sean has some good contacts for that. One thing about some of the cities in Canada is that they seem to get it. Check out how Quebec City instead of trying to hide the fact that they are one of the snowiest cities in the world celebrates it http://www.carnaval.qc.ca/en/index.asp and if you want to see something awesome check out the annual Ice Palaces dating all the way back to 1955 at http://www.carnaval.qc.ca/en/histoire.palais_all.asp

Can and will Syracuse understand what all this snowfall really could do to increase tourism during the winter months if only the leadership would grasp the snowfall as a positive and not a negative. I came across a pdf file about the 4 major winter festivals that Canada has and posted what the beginning of it says below.

Already the four major festivals, as much for their uniqueness and original programming as for their geographic locations and calendars, are events that significantly drive the Canadian tourist industry. By combining their efforts, they enhance the appeal of the winter urban festivals dynamic programs at the regional, national and international levels. They also impact positively on Canadian and international tourists’ perception of Canada as a tourist destination.

Click Here to read more about it. It will open in a pdf format file. Just think about Syracuse and the surrounding areas drawing in tens of thousands of visitors and tourists every season to see what could become one of the biggest winter festivals (Golden Snowball Festivals) in the u.s.

Have a Great Weekend All.

Dark, Gloomy and Rainy Weather

Enough already with the rain and clouds. Is anyone else sick of the weather we have had this fall? More heavy rain is in the forecast for today and right now according to NOAA stats we are something close to 7 1/2 inches over our normal rainfall for the year in Syracuse and all the GSB city's are well over their averages. Binghamton is over 8 inches above normal for rain. Enough already.

I think this year was the most I have ever had to cut the lawn. On average I was probably cutting about every 5 - 6 days or at least should have been. Even worse is there is a good chance that I might have to cut it again before is snows. Which also means I will have to rake the leaves up before the normal January thaw. Temperatures are suppose to be dropping by tomorrow so maybe we all can squeeze a flurry or two out of this next cold front moving into our area.

Last Year Binghamton was Winning

Once again what a difference a year makes. I just took a look at last years snowfall stats for this time in season. Last year Binghamton was winning with 4 1/2 inches of snow on the ground. Remember last year Albany was the city that struck first and actually led for a day or two with 1 inch of snowfall. Rochester had .2 inches of snow and Buffalo and Syracuse had zippp!

I'm still pumped up about Buffalo having a big lead on the rest of us. Hopefully the other cities will get a jump on DaCuse to make this years Golden Snowball contest a thriller right to the end. My seasons predictions so far are leaning towards a more snowier season than average but more to come on that in a few days.

Smadsen from the forum mentioned that he misses the snow graph that was on the old main page. He said he liked to see the bars and of course this year Buffalo's bar on the graph is towering over the rest of us. Obviously SMadsen is from Buffalo and is gloating now and a good reason to.

This Seasons Rants Moved All Together

11/9 - No changes in snowfall all across the board. Some of us here in the Syracuse area are thinking about offering up a challenge to Quebec City to see who gets the most snowfall this season. Quebec city averages around 130 inches of snow and we think we can shovel up more snow than they do this season. If it happens it should be a fun bet. Back in the old days I think someone would challenge a person to a duel by slapping them in the face. Seeing how this is just a fun contest I think hitting a Quebecian from Quebec City with a snowball should be sufficient enough to offer up a fun challenge, Ehhh. Hmmm, Is anyone going to Quebec City in the near future? If you are, please, no head shots. No need to start an international crisis between our border counties. Of course a border snowball fight might be fun. Can you imagine the border guards wondering what is going on when hundreds of people from both sides of the border show up and start hurling snowballs at each other?

Then again looking at the over 2 feet of snow that Buffalo is beating all of us by??????

11/7 - Nothing new to report as far as the snow goes. One thing I noticed however is if you look at the stats above Albany, Rochester, Binghamton and Syracuse are all below the normal snowfall for this time of the year. Of course one snowfall normal puts everyone over the totals but snow really isn't in the forecast anytime soon. Does that mean this will be a below average winter. Don't count on it and look for my winter outlook predictions for this winter to be posted soon.

Election day is finally here. Whoo Hooo! I'm pretty psyched about it too. Not because of who wins but because my freaking phone should stop ringing off the hook after today. I bet I answered the phone with a recording on the line at least 10 times during this election. I think I took about 6 polls. The worst part was getting up to answer the phone only to have nobody on the other end. That happened about 30 times. I even had one of my friends cuss at me.

Yup, I called one of my childhood buddy's in Tennessee about the election. Tennessee has a close senate race going on so I figured I would get his thoughts. But first I figured I would play around with him and disguised my voice when he answered the phone. I told him I was doing a really fast poll that would take less than a minute of his time. He said "Sure go ahead" in a nasty tone of voice. Anyways I think I started with the wrong question. I asked him if he was a Democrat or a Republican. Click went the phone. He hung up on me and he hung up hard. I hit the redial and called him Rick back. The phone rang about 7 times before he finally answered the phone. This time in my own voice with a little chuckle I said "How Dare You Hang Up On ME". Click went the phone again! He was still thinking I was a pollster. Once again I hit redial and the phone rings and rings with my buddy finally picking up saying something like "What do you want" in a not so pleasant voice. This time I had to hurry up and say "Rick, this is Pat. Don't hang up". After calling me a few obscene names as he was laughing and telling his wife it was me we talked a little politics and caught up on things. So if your sick of all the political BS then just try to have a little fun with it. It will be over soon.

Most importantly, get out and vote if your registered. If you never got around to registering then kick yourself in the butt and instead of voting today go find a place to register so that you can vote in the next election. Let's hope that whom ever it is that is put into the elected offices, things will change for the better. If your registered and told you can't vote for some reason, DON'T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER! Also polling places have changed all over the place so look up online to see where you should vote. For Onondaga and some surrounding counties you can find the info and phone numbers at http://www.blogs.syracuse.com/default.asp?item=271120 Have a great day all.

11/4 - GO ESM!!! East Syracuse Minoa High School, my alma mater played a tough game against a respectable Nottingham High School team last night and came out with the victory. The first ever sectional title won by ESM.

Class Act, CLASS ACT! That tells the whole story of the game. That's what stood out as I watched the game on Time Warner 26 in the warmth of my house. I planned on attending the game but wasn't feeling all that great yesterday. Anyways as I watched the game obviously cheering for ESM , what stood out the most was the sportsmanship being displayed on the field by both teams. On almost every tackle that was made by Nottingham they would help the ESM player up. The same went for the ESM players. At the end of the game as they lined up to shake hands you could see the Nottingham players patting some of the ESM players on the shoulder, most likely saying good game. 100% class! When the awards were being presented for MVP and Sportsman of the game for both teams, the same class was shown with either a handshake or a pounding of fists together to congratulate each other. I could go on and on about the sportsmanship that I saw last night. Enough said though! Congrats to East Syracuse Minoa and to Nottingham for a great played game. Keep it going ESM in the states.

Oh Yea! This is a weather site. Look out Buffalo! Syracuse is finally on the board with 1/10 of an inch to start their snow season .

11/3 - Alright Buffalo, enough is enough already. Like 22.6 inches wasn't a big enough lead you have to go and add another 2.1 inches yesterday. Yup, Buffalo has a lead of over 2 FEET right now on the rest of us. They already have almost 1/3 of their total for last season which isn't saying a whole lot for last seasons snow in Buffalo. What a difference a year makes and with Buffalo getting that big of a jump on the rest of us this year should be an exciting one watching us all try to catch them. 24.7 inches by November 3rd I have to take my hat off to them. Only for a second though, it's pretty cold out today. GO BUFFALO!

New Info - Syracuse, believe it or not is one of the snowiest cities in the world and most likely the snowiest city in the United States with a population of 100,000 or more. Some of us believed that Syracuse may be the number one snow city with pop over 100,000 in the world. Well our snowball might of went pop. One of Sean Kirst's visitors to his forum, Steve mentioned that Quebec City receives on average 130 inches of snow a year. You can read it at Sean's forum http://www.syracuse.com/forums/kirst/index.ssf?artid=2443 . There is also a great topic going on there about what Syracuse could do with the title of being the snowiest city in the US and one of the top in the world.

Not to let my snowball pop to easily I sat down and did some math with the stats I have. Those who visit here know my math tends to be Fuzzy Math at times so feel free to correct anything I might of missed. I did a 10 year, 20 year and 30 year average of our snowfall seasons up to last seasons to see what I would come up with. Below are the results for Syracuse which I found pretty interesting.

30 Year Annual Average Snowfall = 125.2 inches.
20 Year Annual Average Snowfall = 131.0 inches.
10 Year Annual Average Snowfall = 129.6 inches.

I got in touch with Dave from NOAA in Binghamton and asked him why we show 111.9 as our normal yearly average snow totals. Something I think I asked him before but having the memory of a toad I forgot the reason. Dave explained that NOAA (the national weather service) uses what they call a rolling 30 year average which is updated every 10 years. In other words the normals that we see on the snow chart here are taken from the averages of the years 1970 - 2000. So if I am correct the next rolling 30 year average will start in a few years, 2010.
That all being said taking the current up to date stats from above we are in the ballpark with Quebec City. It would be interesting to find out how they come up with their yearly average snowfall and if it's like ours on a rolling 30 year system. Make sure you check out NYCO's site who also has some discussions going on about the Golden Snowball contest at http://www.silent-edge.org/wp/ . It's also a GREAT site giving an opinion on many topics and current events in the CNY area. Hey, have a super weekend all!

11/1 - Wow, what a nice night it was last night for the little ones to go Trick or Treating. Warm with a light breeze far from the normal cold and rainy or even a mix of rain and snow. Unfortunately I live on a busy street that seems to get more busier every year and this year we had only 4 little ones come to the door not counting nieces and nephews. Our neighbor Frank brought over his cute little 2 year old grandson and 3 little girls across the street in their cute costumes rung the doorbell. That was it. I ask myself every year why do I buy so much candy. I keep coming up with the same answer every year, because I am a candy Pig and know that I get the leftovers .

Now I am sitting here wondering whether I should finish up the rest of the raking while the weather is still nice. Or better yet should I get out and play another round of golf and blow off the raking and hope that it snows soon to cover up the leaves. Looking at all the neighbors trees and yards that are still covered with leaves and thinking about the windy weather we've been having, it's a no brainer. Happy November All! It won't be long now before all of the Golden Snowball cities are are on the board with some snow to report. Enjoy the weather while you can.
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.

Lets 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 cease 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!
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.

A New Look to The Golden Snowball Website

A normal ritual seems to take place every new snow season. Me getting bored with the old look of the site. I decided this year to try and get with the times and see how it goes with a blog look and feel. I'll probably go through a few looks to see what I can come up with. Give me a couple of days to figure it all out and to also try to get most of the other stuff on here that was before. Obviously the snow chart with the statistics is the most important thing to get back here. Wish me luck, God only knows how clueless I really am. Yeah, I know most of you know that too. Feel free to leave a comment on the new look (looks) that might be showing up. They go to moderation first to stop spammers, but they will show up here as soon as I post them.

Click Here for The New Snow Stats