Syracuse Sledding Toward a Top 10 Snow Season

Syracuse set another date record yesterday with 5.6 inches of snow (kind of wimpy if you ask me) but it looks like a warm up for the next few days may put a sudden stop to things temporarily at least.

If my math is right which remember it normally isn't, Syracuse has had it's 12th snowiest season so far and a top 10 finish is in reach. I was looking over the stats here at the Snow Stats Page and it looks like if Syracuse can end the season with 153.1 inches that will put them in the top 10. Syracuse has a chance of having their 5th snowiest season if they can keep piling up the snow and reach a total of 168.9 inches. With Syracuse needing just a couple more feet of snow and with March's average snowfall of just under 19 inches it's definitely doable. What about that long sought after 200 inch mark? March has been known for a good storm or two and I think it would take something like the March blizzard of 1993 to put us in reach of that goal.

One of the comments left here was how it's pretty much over and that even a good Nor Easter wouldn't move the cities close because Syracuse would also get the snow. Not a Nor Easter like last season where Buffalo picked up something like 23 inches and Syracuse got a little more than a dusting. Of course I think it would take a couple of them for Rochester and Buffalo to have a shot at a comeback like they made last season. No doubt though that it's looking pretty good right now for Syracuse as we wind down the home stretch.

I'm feeling pretty confident about the Golden Snowball Winter Prediction this season. Well other than picking Rochester pulling an upset. With the Rock and Buffalo both ready to hit their seasonal averages and Binghamton still above their normals at least 3, of the 5 GSB cities will have an above average snowfall season for 2008 - 2009. Here is the 2008 - 2009 winter outlook that was posted back in December. Yeah, yeah, I know my totals are pretty off right now other than DaCuse so Rochester and Buffalo best start piling it on. Have a Great Day All!

Buffalo and Rochester Need to Make a Move

Syracuse picked up another 9 1/2 inches of snow to widen the lead over Buffalo and Rochester. The 9 1/2 inches set a new date snow record which was previously 7.2 inches set back in 1960. Rochester piled up almost half a foot of snow pushing Buffalo back down the snow hill and into third place once again. Binghamton has added a few inches here and there but they have probably run out of time now. As for Albany, they're history in the 2008 - 2009 Golden Snowball contest being almost 90 inches behind the leader Syracuse.

My thinking is that if Rochester and Buffalo can close February out trailing Syracuse by just a couple of feet then it will still be a good contest to the end. If ever there was a time for the cities to do a snow dance it's now. A good Nor Easter or two can definitely help both of the cities out which is what happened last season. Maybe I'll try and do a snow dance for both the cities and see if it works ;) 40 or so inches of snow is a lot to make up this late in the season but I think it's doable still. This is New York remember and who knows what the Snow God has in store for any of the GSB cities. Hmmm! Maybe we should contact NYCO, the keeper of the Snow God and see if she can put the Him/Her away for a couple of weeks to see if The Rock and Buffalo can catch up a bit. NAHHH! Have a Super Weekend All!!

Some Interesting Snow Stats From NOAA

First off our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of our good neighbors to the west. As most of you have heard there was a plane crash in the Buffalo area in which 50 people perished. Enough said here about it and you can read more at BuffaloNews.com

I've been slacking a bit the last several days trying to get some work done. Plus it's been pretty tame as far as the snowfall goes with that big heat wave we had for a few days. The Christmas lights finally thawed out of the ice that they were buried under on the roof so hopefully I can get them down before they get buried again.

My Inflatable Christmas blowups have finally reappeared along with the grass and unfortunately garbage on the yard. The problem is that they have to dry out for a day or so before they can be put away and the last two days didn't cooperate to much for that. I'm hoping the sun will shine for a couple of days so they can be put away.

While I was on break (working 15 hour days) ZR posted a good link that has some good snow stats from NOAA in Buffalo that were posted by I believe Steve McLaughlin who by the way from what have read and been told was one of the people that came up with the idea of starting up the Golden Snowball contest again along with Tom Niziol. Below are some snow stats which were about halfway through the season give or take a little. More at http://www.erh.noaa.gov/buf/products/020709pns.htm Thanks ZR for the cool link :)

...NIAGARA COUNTY...
.LOCKPORT....... 83 INCHES
.NO.TONAWANDA... 78 INCHES
.NIAGARA FALLS.. 76 INCHES
.MIDDLEPORT..... 70 INCHES
.YOUNGSTOWN..... 58 INCHES

...ORLEANS COUNTY...
.LYNDONVILLE.... 62 INCHES
.ALBION......... 55 INCHES

...ERIE COUNTY...
.COLDEN........ 152 INCHES
.BOSTON........ 150 INCHES
.EDEN.......... 135 INCHES
.CHAFFEE....... 121 INCHES
.WALES......... 114 INCHES
.EAST AURORA... 111 INCHES
.ELMA.......... 105 INCHES
.ALDEN......... 102 INCHES
.MARILLA....... 100 INCHES
.WEST SENECA.... 99 INCHES
.HAMBURG........ 89 INCHES
.LACKAWANNA..... 87 INCHES
.BUFFALO CITY... 75 TO 90 INCHES (NORTH TO SOUTH)
.AMHERST........ 86 INCHES
.CHEEKTOWAGA.... 86.1 INCHES (NWS BUF AIRPORT)
.KEN-TONAWANDA.. 75 INCHES
.GRAND ISLAND... 61 INCHES

...GENESEE COUNTY...
.DARIEN......... 91 INCHES
.BATAVIA........ 79 INCHES
.STAFFORD....... 77 INCHES
.PAVILION....... 65 INCHES

...WYOMING COUNTY...
.WARSAW........ 151 INCHES
.PERRY.......... 96 INCHES
.PORTAGEVILLE... 81 INCHES

...CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY...
.MAYVILLE...... 237 INCHES
.ARKWRIGHT..... 228 INCHES
.SINCLAIRVILLE. 200 INCHES
.BEMUS POINT... 177 INCHES
.ELLINGTON..... 168 INCHES
.FORESTVILLE... 141 INCHES
.JAMESTOWN..... 128 INCHES
.DUNKIRK........ 97 INCHES
.FREDONIA....... 86 INCHES

...CATTARAUGUS COUNTY...
.SOUTH DAYTON.. 249 INCHES
.PERRYSBURG.... 223 INCHES
.ELLICOTTVILLE. 203 INCHES
.YORKSHIRE..... 199 INCHES
.WEST VALLEY... 175 INCHES
.LITTLE VALLEY. 173 INCHES
.CATTARAUGUS... 143 INCHES
.RANDOLPH...... 123 INCHES
.OLEAN.......... 87 INCHES

...ALLEGANY COUNTY...
.FRIENDSHIP.... 100 INCHES
.RUSHFORD....... 98 INCHES
.ALFRED......... 81 INCHES
.ANGELICA....... 68 INCHES
.WELLSVILLE..... 64 INCHES
.WHITESVILLE.... 62 INCHES

...MONROE COUNTY...
.HAMLIN........ 106 INCHES
.PERINTON....... 98 INCHES
.ROCHESTER...... 86.6 INCHES (NWS ROC AIRPORT)
.PENFIELD....... 83 INCHES
.ROCHESTER...... 80 INCHES (CHARLOTTE)
.FAIRPORT....... 80 INCHES
.WEBSTER........ 79 INCHES
.WHEATLAND...... 75 INCHES
.GREECE......... 74 INCHES
.CHILI.......... 63 INCHES

...WAYNE COUNTY...
.MARION......... 97 INCHES
.PALMYRA........ 83 INCHES
.NEWARK......... 79 INCHES
.SODUS CENTER... 71 INCHES

...LIVINGSTON COUNTY...
.SCOTTSBURG..... 75 INCHES
.SPRINGWATER.... 71 INCHES
.LIVONIA........ 67 INCHES
.GENESEO........ 65 INCHES
.AVON........... 56 INCHES
.DANSVILLE...... 52 INCHES

...ONTARIO COUNTY...
.STANLEY........ 73 INCHES
.CANANDAIGUA.... 54 INCHES
.HONEOYE LAKE... 45 INCHES

...CAYUGA COUNTY...
.CATO-MERIDIAN. 133 INCHES
.FAIR HAVEN.... 129 INCHES
.MONTEZUMA...... 84 INCHES

...OSWEGO COUNTY...
.REDFIELD...... 265 INCHES
.BENNETTS BRG.. 210 INCHES
.PULASKI....... 196 INCHES
.SCRIBA........ 193 INCHES
.MINETTO....... 177 INCHES
.SW OSWEGO..... 176 INCHES
.WEST MONROE... 166 INCHES
.LACONA........ 152 INCHES
.HANNIBAL...... 123 INCHES

...LEWIS COUNTY...
.COPENHAGEN.... 285 INCHES (HOOKER CO-OP STA)
.HIGHMARKET.... 192 INCHES
.LOWVILLE...... 144 INCHES
.HARRISVILLE... 139 INCHES

...JEFFERSON COUNTY...
.ADAMS......... 195 INCHES
.CARTHAGE...... 166 INCHES
.WATERTOWN..... 140 TO 160 INCHES
.CLAYTON....... 80 INCHES

It's nice to be able to see some snow stats on Watertown and they are indeed ahead of DaCuse so far this season most likely due to the last couple of lake effect events that hit them a week or two ago. HEY, Have a Super Weekend All!!!

Add Another 6 Weeks - Punxsutawney Phil on Groundhogs Day

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow folks and that means seeing how it's groundhogs day. Add another 6 weeks to what has already been a lively and beautiful snow season so far. Best comment I've read today is from the Syracuse.com site by SpeedRabbit which I'm sure sums it up for half of the people,

"stupid rodent .... I hate snow"

You can read the whole article along with some comments about Phil the groundhog at http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/groundhog_sees_his_shadow_six.html

My guess is that the small game licenses in New York are being bought up by the warm weather lovers today. I'll have to check and see if NY has a season for groundhogs??? In another story New York city Mayor Michael Bloomberg got bitten by another groundhog, not Phil but a rookie 2 year old named Charles G. Hogg. The question is that what does that mean? When a groundhog bites a Mayor? My guess is nothing more than the Mayor will be one of the first in line for his small game hunting license :) Click Here to Take the MSN Groundhog Quiz! in which I bombed with only 2 correct answers :(

On the snow front, there isn't a whole lot going on other than another swap on the snow hill with Rochester over taking Buffalo once again for the second place slot. The storm that could have been most likely won't be. I haven't had a chance to really check it out the last couple of days but last I heard it will be more to the East of the Big 3 with perhaps Binghamton and Albany maybe making up some ground. No doubt they have a lot to make up.

Bummer 1) As for the Super Bowl boards. Anyone one that had the numbers 4 - 0 pretty much know what I went through yesterday. The score 10 - 7, 19 seconds to go in the 1st half, 1st and goal for the Cardinals on the 2 yard line to score a touchdown. Nope, Nata, not gonna happen. Interception for a 100 yard run back to wipe out them match sticks that I could have won.

Bummer 2) The score I think was 20 - 14 with 2 minutes left. Gotta love that 4 and 0 huh? Not! Pitt gets out of their own end zone on 3rd down which looked to be a 1st down after almost getting stopped for a safety on second down. So I thought anyways. Nah, flag down for holding and I'm thinking OK a punt. Never knew that a hold when the QB is in the end zone was a safety. Tack 2 points on to the 14 and it's game over for the Snowman. OK, bummer for me but it was a great game whether match sticks were won or not. Have a great day All!