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All posts for the month January, 2014

We are now just over 2 thirds of the way through January, and after the big snow event along the coast, it’s time for another Fantasy Snowfall update. The table below shows the month’s snowfall totals, through 1/22.

GSG Fantasy Snowfall 2014
Brent Mike Pat Steve
93.9 100.3 71.2 61.6
Starters (Full Credit)
Erie 21.2 Boston 21.7 Buffalo 30.3 Akron 9.6
Lansing 17.5 Madison 7.1 Cleveland 14.6 Grand Rapids 20.9
Milwaukee 13.5 Pittsburgh 10.3 Green Bay 12.1 Hartford 9.8
Worcester 18.9 Rochester(NY) 16.7 Salt Lake City 8.3 Minneapolis 11.6
Syracuse 17.7 Syracuse 17.7
Total 88.8 Total 73.5 Total 65.3 Total 51.9
Bench (Half Credit)
Denver 6.4 Ann Arbor 27.1 Rochester(MN) 9.0 Anchorage 9.2
Sioux Falls 3.7 Flint 26.4 Spokane 2.8 Billings 10.1
Total 5.1 Total 26.8 Total 5.9 Total 9.7

In this season’s contest, all four competitors are given the option to start Syracuse for one month as a bonus 5th starter. Brent and Mike have used that option for January, while Pat and Steve have it for either February or March.

Continuing the theme from the last update, the December winner is trailing big this month, while the fourth place finish in December is still in the lead in January. Mike’s big snow-getters are on the bench, but it’s still enough for now. Buffalo is this month’s top snow city for the month, but Lake Erie is freezing up a lot. How will that impact the rest of the way?

On February 1st, we’ll find out who January’s big winner is, how the overall standings have changed, and who the starters are for February. Stay tuned!

I just got a Full update in and take a look at Chicago, Illinois jumping into the top 10 snowiest cities. I’ll have to take a look back but I can’t remember Chicago ever being in the top 10 since we started the contest unless it was maybe in the very beginning of the snow season. Better yet they knocked Anchorage, Alaska out of the top 10. Who would have ever thought that would happen? Right now Chicago is camping out in the #7 slot on the snow mountain. Chicago’s normal snowfall to date should be 16.9 inches, right now they are at 45.4 inches on the season. This time last season they had a snow total of 1.3 inches. Chicago is only a handful of inches away from having 4 feet of snow more than this time last season. Chicago, Chicago, Way to Go Chicago ;)

Now let’s talk about the snow storm that hit a good part of the eastern coast yesterday and is just about out to sea now. Several cities have climbed up the Golden Snow Globe snow mountain this last update but there is still more climbing to do. Most of the new snowfall is from yesterday so we will still have a lot of snow to add to cities like Boston, Worcester, Mass and some of the other cities I’m sure. Plus, Some of the cities weren’t updated for the fact that NOAA is having some problems with the website so I couldn’t get to them. The only cities that may effect the top ten (Until Boston & Worcester snow stats come in) that I can see is Grand Rapids which is showing MM and means that any new snow wasn’t updated for yesterday and Ann Arbor, Michigan. There is a chance that both could jump a spot.

Here are the stand out cities from the storm so far that broke date records. BTW, my brother lives in Philly and shovels a couple of his older neighbors driveways for them. I just talked to him and he said he will be shoveling all day. Kind of feels good today living in snowless Syracuse, New York ;)

* Philadelphia, PA reported 13.5 inches of snow yesterday breaking the date record of 3.4 inches of snow set way back in 1917.

* Central Park in NYC – 11.0 inches breaking the date record of 6.0 inches going back to 2001

* Newark, NJ – 10.0 inches of snow breaking the date record of 4.5 inches set in 2011

* Cincinnati – 5.3 inches beating the old record of 3.8 set in 2007

* Baltimore, Maryland – 5.1 inches setting a new date record of 2.0 set in 1982

* Washington DC – 3.8 inches of new snowfall breaking the record of 3.5 set in 1982

I’ll be doing another update of some sort when the new stats come out later to see what Boston, Worcester and a couple of the other cities have to report for today. Stay Tuned and have a Great Day All!!

I just got off the phone with my brother in Philly not too long ago and he said it was coming down pretty good. He guessed about 5-6 inches of snow so far. I’ve been watching the radar and started thinking that this could get interesting by the time the storm pulls out.

I don’t see any of the cities catching Erie, PA right now but this new snow storm may bring several more cities within striking distance of the top cities, perhaps just another storm or two away from getting to the top of the snow mountain. I’m seeing expected snow totals by the end of tomorrow for places like Boston, Mass, Philadelphia, PA and other cities anywhere in the 8 – 16 inch range along with the possibility of blizzard conditions in some areas.

What I don’t like is that it is missing us here in Syracuse and in most of NY and I don’t think Erie is suppose to see much either. The storm seems to be moving slower than expected and also seems to be holding on to the same direction, Northwest staying over some of the cities like Philly. Take a slow moving storm that is covering a lot of area and staying on the same path and we could be seeing some decent snow totals come tomorrow.

That said, keep in mind I am not a meteorologist and normally don’t have a clue so if you are in the cities getting hit by this snow storm check with the PROS, your local meteorologists and the National Weather Service. Those are the folks who know their stuff ;)

I’m going to try and get a full update done in a little while or should I say when the stats start coming out. Most of the snow stats right now are still from yesterday so I am going to hang on until NOAA starts posting some of the snow stats from the snow that has fallen so far today. Stay Tuned :)

Syracuse, New York continues to slide down the snow mountain dropping another spot this update. Erie, PA has to be loving it considering the big comeback that Syracuse made at the very end of the season to go ahead of both Erie and Worcester, Massachusetts. Erie also gained some snow on the rest of us since the last update :(

Grand Rapids, Michigan slipped past Syracuse for the number 3 slot on the mountain knocking Da’Cuse down to number 4. All of the top 10 snowiest cities managed to stay in the top 10 this round. That could change come tomorrow with it snowing today in some of the Golden Snow Globe cities including here in the Syracuse area.

Is it snowing in your city today? How about in Erie, Buffalo, Rochester or any of the other cities? Give us an update in this post if you have a minute to let us know what’s happening in your neck of the woods ;) Taking a rough guess I’m thinking about 4 – 5 inches so far here in the Syracuse area with light snow still falling. Sure beats the cloudy, gloomy, rainy days we have been having.

Enough for now and it’s almost time for what should be a good college basketball game between Pitt and Syracuse. Good Luck Pitt but Let’s Go Orange ;)

First off a big Thanks to Rhonda for your donation to the site. I know I’ve said it many times but your donations are appreciated and do help out big time. Thank You Rhonda :)
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Thanks to Andy also for taking the time to send me some info I was looking for about the lakes freezing over.  I’ll post about that in a day or two.

OK!!!  Buffalo, NY continues to slowly gain ground on the snow lead that Erie, PA has in the Golden Snow Globe contest. Buffalo is now just a snow storm away or 15.1 inches away to be exact.

I checked back a little over a week ago and on the January 4th update Buffalo was in 4th place and 30.1 inches behind Erie, Pa. Buffalo has made up about 15 inches in the last week or so. Go Buffalo!

Right now everything seems to be pretty quiet across the US as far as snowfall goes. A lot of rain here in the Syracuse area but at least it warmed up for a few days hitting 50+ degrees which seemed like a heat wave after that -25 – -35 below wind chill factor that came around for a couple of days.

Let’s talk College Hoops. We all know that Syracuse is Americas favorite team :P but other than the SU Orange, who is your next favorite college basketball team? Be careful in answering this though because any replies with the Duke Blue Devils may get banned.  The same goes for Arizona who is ranked number 1 in the country in the polls ahead of Syracuse.  I’M JOKING OF COURSE ;)  I’m curious for the fact that some of the states have several cities in the snow contest and also have several college basketball teams in their state.

PA is a good example. I know some people including my brother who lives in Philly and most of them root for Villanova. I’m guessing you folks in Pittsburgh root for The Pitt Panthers first. Erie, Pa I don’t have a clue about but would guess maybe Pitt? Anyways, leave a comment in this post to let me know who your favorite college basketball team is in the country.

Have an Awesome Weekend All :)

It has been an interesting start to January in the national snow contest. How does that translate to the Fantasy Snowfall contest? The table below shows the month’s snowfall totals, through 1/11.

GSG Fantasy Snowfall 2014
Brent Mike Pat Steve
62.2 65.3 45.9 38.4
Starters (Full Credit)
Erie 15.1 Boston 15.3 Buffalo 25.1 Akron 7.6
Lansing 15.5 Madison 0.3 Cleveland 10.9 Grand Rapids 16.1
Milwaukee 7.4 Pittsburgh 6.3 Green Bay 0.0 Hartford 8.6
Worcester 10.8 Rochester(NY) 12.7 Salt Lake City 8.1 Minneapolis 0.3
Syracuse 10.1 Syracuse 10.1
Total 58.9 Total 44.7 Total 44.1 Total 32.8
Bench (Half Credit)
Denver 6.0 Ann Arbor 20.8 Rochester(MN) 1.1 Anchorage 1.9
Sioux Falls 0.6 Flint 20.4 Spokane 2.5 Billings 9.3
Total 3.3 Total 20.6 Total 1.8 Total 5.6

In this season’s contest, all four competitors are given the option to start Syracuse for one month as a bonus 5th starter. Brent and Mike have used that option for January, while Pat and Steve have it for either February or March.

The first shall be last, and the last shall be first. Steve won December, but is trailing in January. On the flip side, Mike was fourth in December, and has a slim lead for first this month. His totals would have been even bigger, but his two heaviest snow cities are on the bench. With just over a third of the month in the books, it looks like we’ll be in for an interesting race, both here and in the national contest.

The next Fantasy Snowfall update will likely be on the 22nd or 23rd, depending of course on how much snow the cities get. Stay tuned!

Top 10 Snowiest cities Updated 1/8 4:30 PM - I was able to get a top 10 update in and there have been a couple of changes on the snow mountain. Buffalo, NY climbed a couple of spots and are now in 2nd place on the mountain. Buffalo picked up more than enough snow to slip past Syracuse, NY and Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Syracuse dropped down 2 spots and went from 2nd place to 4th while Grand Rapids was able to stay in the number 3 slot. Way to go Buffalo! If it’s not my Syracuse I have to root for a NY city at least. Is Erie feeling the pressure yet :) Stay Tuned!

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Update 1/8 - South Bend Residents Please Read – I meant to explain why South Bend, Indiana was removed from the list yesterday but forgot to. Cory posted a comment which reminded me about it and here is Cory’s comment and my reply and believe me I think it stinks that we had to pull South Bend. Hopefully things get straightened out and for anyone or a group who lives or is always around the airport NOAA would like to hear from you. This is a 24/7 operation and I believe measurements need to be taken every 6 hours around the clock. You can contact Jeff Logsdon at the National Weather Service at 574-834-1104

Cory Asked - What happened to South Bend?!? We still have a population of over 100,000. We have received 46.4″ so far this winter. I have a link to the website. This is according to NOAA.

http://www.wndu.com/weather

ME - Hi Cory, unfortunately I just pulled South Bend this last update and trust me, I didn’t want to. We have been waiting for NOAA to post their official snow totals for awhile now and they haven’t since around mid December. We looked around to see what was going on and Stephen who posts here found out why. It appears there is some kind of dispute going on with NOAA and the airport as far as someone at the airport measuring the snow. From what I have read is that any snow stats for South Bend for the time being anyways are unofficial snow stats. I’m not sure where WNDU is getting their stats from unless they are taking measurements where they are at. I know that NOAA is looking for snow spotters that lives or who spends time around the airport to help out. Do you know if WNDU is near the airport or are you Cory? Here is the info about it and hopefully South Bend will be back before the season is over. Sorry about that.

http://www.fox28.com/story/24264229/2013/12/19/explaining-the-odd-snow-totals-this-year

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This last full update was all about Michigan and Illinois snow totals. Just about every city from those states climbed up the snow mountain including Grand Rapids which is now in 3rd place. Michigan for the time being owns the top 10 snowiest cities in the US with 4 cities making it into the top 10 this update.

I did get a full update in and Erie, Pa still holds a pretty commanding lead right now but watch your backs because it seems each update some of the slow starters keep closing in on the top cities. More to come on this last update a little later when I have some more time :)

Updated 1/4/14 - Just a heads up that I did a fast update going 20 cities deep. The reason being that I knew that Worcester and Boston, Mass still had snow to add from the storm. Sure enough, Worcester, Mass had enough snow to make it into the top 10 snowiest cities this season. Worcester got off to a slow start so far but let’s not forget how close they kept the race last season keeping up with Erie, Pa and Syracuse, NY ;) Last season was close right to the end so we may not want to worry about them just yet but we better keep an eye on them. One more nor’easter and they will be climbing the snow mountain fast ;)

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Erie, Pa now has over six feet of snow on the season as of yesterday. Second place Syracuse, NY who has just over 4 feet of snow did manage to chip away an inch or two from Erie’s lead over them. Hey, this early in the snow season it’s all about chipping an inch at a time away. Of course come tomorrow the rest of the cities will probably take another step back from Erie. All in all it was a pretty decent storm that went by and a lot of the Golden Snow Globe cities were able to grab some of the white fluffy stuff from the sky.

There were several cities that stood out this round but I think Boston, Mass stood out the most. So far they are reporting 10.6 inches of snow for yesterday breaking a date record of 8.0 inches which dates all the way back to 1904. Way to go Boston!

There was a lot of pushing down and climbing up the snow mountain going on. All three of the Wisconsin cities (Milwaukee, Green Bay & Madison) were pushed out of the snowiest top 10 cities. Replacing them was another Pa city, Pittsburgh along with Ann Arbor, Michigan and Cleveland, Ohio. Right now we have cities from 7 different states representing the top 10 snowiest cities in the US :)

Some of the biggest movers climbing the snow mountain this update were –

Boston, Mass moved up 20 spots
Chicago, Illinois +9 spots
Indianapolis, Indiana +9
Fort Wayne, Indiana +8
Philadelphia, Pa +7

Stay Tuned and Have an Awesome Weekend and Don’t forget to root for Americas Favorite Basketball Team, The Syracuse Orange :P

Erie, Pa just keeps piling in on and now has a lead of more than a couple of feet of snow. Right now they are leading the second place city Syracuse by 25.7 inches of snow but can they hold on to that big lead? Oh, and what is up with Lake Erie? Has it frozen over yet or did you folks in Erie buy an ice breaker to keep the lake open through the winter ;)

Chances are that Syracuse and some of the other cities may be able to cut into their lead with the snow that is coming through right now. Hopefully if all goes according to plan, my plan ;) Erie’s snow will stop sometime soon and the rest of us to the East/NE will be able to chip away at the big lead they have right now. Here at my house just outside the Syracuse area it’s been coming down all day but pretty much just moderate snowfall is falling with a heavy snow squall every now and then. Right now the heavier snow on the National radar seems to be just missing Syracuse to the east. A little more shift in the winds going more northerly instead of NE could make things interesting.

What is it doing in your neck of the woods? Is it Still snowing in Erie, Pa, Buffalo, Rochester, NY or in any of the other Golden Snow Globe cities? If so let us know and thanks ;)

With the holidays over and family and friends gone for now it’s time to get back to work. I spent about 2 hours so far going through spam on both of the snow sites and probably have another hour to go. I do my best to look through the thousands of them in hopes that I don’t delete one of your comments or emails. Hopefully nothing that should be posted was deleted and if so I apologize. Stay tuned because the next couple of days will be interesting.

Have a Great Day Everyone and as always, See Snow – Drive Slow ;)

Happy New Year everyone! With December 2013 at a close, it is time to check how each competitor fared for the month. The table below shows the December snowfall totals for the cities in this season’s Fantasy Snowfall contest.

GSG Fantasy Snowfall 2014
Brent Mike Pat Steve
103.0 92.2 98.8 110.2
Starters (Full Credit)
Denver 4.7 Ann Arbor 17.5 Buffalo 28.5 Anchorage 23.1
Erie 48.0 Flint 16.7 Cleveland 17.1 Billings 23.9
Lansing 15.4 Madison 22.1 Green Bay 26.4 Grand Rapids 34.7
Worcester 18.9 Rochester(NY) 22.5 Salt Lake City 18.4 Minneapolis 15.9
Total 87.0 Total 78.8 Total 90.4 Total 97.6
Bench (Half Credit)
Milwaukee 19.3 Boston 11.7 Rochester(MN) 13.1 Akron 12.5
Sioux Falls 12.6 Pittsburgh 15.0 Spokane 3.7 Hartford 12.7
Total 16.0 Total 13.4 Total 8.4 Total 12.6

In this season’s contest, all four competitors are given the option to start Syracuse for one month as a bonus 5th starter. None of the four chose to start Syracuse in December. However, it is worth pointing out that Syracuse had 29 inches in December. As one final note, as of December 15th, South Bend, IN no longer has official measurements. We’ve replaced them with Ann Arbor, MI for Mike.

Steve wins December, but there are three months to go. Here are the starters for January:

January 2014 Starters
Brent Mike Pat Steve
Erie, PA Boston, MA Buffalo, NY Akron, OH
Lansing, MI Madison, WI Cleveland, OH Grand Rapids, MI
Milwaukee, WI Pittsburgh, PA Green Bay, WI Hartford, CT
Worcester, MA Rochester, NY Salt Lake City, UT Minneapolis, MN
Syracuse, NY Syracuse, NY

To meet the season’s requirements, Brent must bench Erie, Lansing and Worcester and start Sioux Falls, Mike must bench Madison and Rochester(NY), Pat must bench Buffalo, Cleveland, Green Bay and Salt Lake City and start Rochester(MN) and Spokane, and Steve must bench Grand Rapids and Minneapolis. In addition, Pat and Steve have Syracuse available to start in either February or March.

The next update will likely be on either January 11th or 12th.