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All posts for the month February, 2014

Syracuse, NY and Grand Rapids, MI Tied for 2nd Snowiest Big City

Posted by Patrick on February 28, 2014
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , , , , .

The way Syracuse and Grand Rapids, Michigan have been going back and forth I think it is only fitting that they get in a tie for second place on the snow mountain. Makes me wonder how you have a snowball fight when you are right next to each other? Hopefully they are teaming up together and throwing some snowballs up the mountain at Erie, Pa to try and knock them off the top spot where they have been for awhile now ;)

Syracuse had a good shot last night at taking a big chunk of snow off the lead that Erie, Pennsylvania has right now but blew it. The same thing happened last night that has happened most of the season for Syracuse. Some nice lake effect snow was falling to the north and was expected to drop down into Syracuse but instead the band broke into smaller bands and I’m guessing only 3-5 inches of snow fell. It will be interesting to see what the National Weather Service has to report come the evening update. Chances are that if Grand Rapids didn’t get much overnight and today then Syracuse may be in 2nd place alone come later on.

Also interesting is the storm that is hitting some of us now and will be hitting the Northeast come Sunday and Monday. I thought it was looking good for Syracuse a day or two ago but it may be looking good for Erie. The last I looked it seemed like the heavier snow may stay to the south of Syracuse just a bit. I think that is advantage Erie, PA. The good thing for Syracuse and the rest of the cities trying to catch them is that these forecasts change by the hour so a little shift one way or the other could change things. Anyone from Erie, Buffalo or any other city that is suppose to get hit hearing anything on this snow storm? Stay tuned and if I’m around I’ll try to get another Top 25 snowy city update in later.

Have an Awesome Weekend All and as always – See Snow – Drive Slow unless you’re on a sled of course…..

8 Cities Chopped From The Ice Block in Golden Snow Globe Contest

Posted by Patrick on February 25, 2014
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

Updated 5:30 PM – A little bit of news to share. Syracuse has slipped past Grand Rapids to move into the second place spot on the snow mountain. Now less than a foot of snow separating Erie, Pa and Syracuse, NY… One other update 9:30 PM – Billings wasn’t reporting earlier so I just took a look and they have jumped all the way up to the number 5 spot :)
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I figured it was about time to do some chopping in the National Snow Contest. If one of the cities dropped was yours, please don’t take it personal. I ended up just dropping the bottom 8 cities so we now have 50 cities left in the contest. I know I can probably drop a whole bunch more but we’ll keep it at 50 for now. Address all complaints to Mother Nature because she is the one responsible for your lack of snowfall this season ;) Cities that were chopped are;

Colorado Springs, Colorado
Kansas City, Missouri
Pueblo, Colorado
Independence, Missouri
Lincoln, Nebraska
Washington DC (National)
Omaha, Nebraska
Albuquerque, New Mexico

The national snow race this season is really starting to shape up. Right now there are 4 cities in a good battle for the top spot with only around 16 inches of snow separating the number 1 snowiest city which is Erie, PA from the number 4 city which is Buffalo, NY. The other two snowiest cities in the hunt for King of the Snow Mountain are Grand Rapids, MI and Syracuse, NY. I’m not counting any of the other cities below them out either. There is still a lot of time left in the snow season whether you/we like it or not. REMEMBER – The contest does NOT end the first day of Spring! I’ll have to repeat that several times because it seems every season one of the news sites post the winner the first day of spring and then a bunch of other follow them :( In reality the season goes from July 1st to the last day of June but we will call it a lot sooner than that or as soon as Syracuse takes the lead, Oh Stop, I’m Joking ;)

There are a couple good snowball fights going on right now. One is for 2nd place with Grand Rapids, Syracuse and Buffalo battling it out. Only around 4 inches separating Buffalo and Grand Rapids and only an inch of snow is between Syracuse and Grand Rapids. Chances are Syracuse received more than that during the overnight which hasn’t been reported yet so it could get interesting depending on what Buffalo, NY and Grand Rapids had fall overnight.

The other decent snowball fight going on and has been for awhile is the battle for the 5th place spot. That battle just got even crazier with Billings, Montana joining in. Billings has been cranking out the snow and picked up something like 14 inches of snow since the last update and also set a date record for one of the days. There are 5 cities within around 3 inches of each other for the fifth place spot on the mountain. Those 5 cities are Ann Arbor, Michigan, Worcester, Mass, Rochester, NY, Billings, Montana and Detroit, MI. Of those cities 2 – 3 of them should have a little over 30 inches right now during a normal snow season. Right now they are at around 80 inches. Another reason why I’m not counting them out just yet :) OK, enough for now and stay tuned.

Have a Great Day All :)

Grand Rapids 6th Snowiest Season Ever

Posted by Patrick on February 21, 2014
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , .

I just took a peek at the snow stats for Grand Rapids, Michigan and it looks like they are now at their 6th Best snow season since it’s been recorded by The National Weather Service. Right now I am showing 102.9 for the 2013 – 2014 season according to NOAA which breaks the record of 101.5 set back in the 1964 – 1965 season. Keep it going Grand Rapids. Grand Rapids, MI second snowiest season on record is right around the corner :)

Grand Rapids Snowiest Season on Record

The Top 10 Snowiest Seasons for Grand Rapids, Michigan

Chart courtesy of NOAA

Have a Great Weekend All :)

Fantasy Snowfall 2014: 2/19 Update

Posted by GSG Fantasy Snowfall on February 19, 2014
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , .

February is still acting as the little snow month that could. A couple of the Fantasy Snowfall cities have already broken the 30 inch mark, and several more have totals in the 20s. How does that add up for the participants’ totals? The table below has that answer, with monthly totals through 2/18.

GSG Fantasy Snowfall 2014
Brent Mike Pat Steve
92.1 97.6 91.4 110.0
Starters (Full Credit)
Erie 23.4 Ann Arbor 20.0 Buffalo 16.6 Akron 15.1
Milwaukee 14.2 Boston 22.5 Cleveland 18.8 Anchorage 4.9
Sioux Falls 6.9 Flint 20.2 Rochester(MN) 8.4 Grand Rapids 22.3
Worcester 38.2 Rochester(NY) 21.8 Spokane 8.4 Hartford 26.6
Syracuse 31.4 Syracuse 31.4
Total 82.7 Total 84.5 Total 83.6 Total 100.3
Bench (Half Credit)
Denver 2.5 Madison 11.0 Green Bay 13.7 Billings 11.9
Lansing 16.3 Pittsburgh 15.2 Salt Lake City 1.9 Minneapolis 7.4
Total 9.4 Total 13.1 Total 7.8 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 used that option in January, while Pat and Steve have used it now.

Pat and Steve’s gamble to start Syracuse in the shortest month has paid off. Both have 31.4 as a bonus so far, topping the full month totals of December and January. Despite that, Pat is currently last for February, and he is the only one to not have a “regular” city with 20+ inches of snow this month. Brent has the big number in Worcester, while Mike has every starter over 20 inches.

On March 1st, we’ll reveal who took February, give an update on the overall standings, and show the starters for March…the last month of this season’s Fantasy Snowfall contest! Stay tuned!

Worcester, Mass Charging Up the Snow Mountain

Posted by Patrick on February 19, 2014
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

Watch out all because here comes last seasons runner-up Worcester, Massachusetts charging up the snow mountain. For those of you that may not have been around the Golden Snow Globe site last season it was a super close snow race right to the very end. Unfortunately the end never came until something like May 31st because all of the Colorado cities decided to make a late charge.

If I remember correctly and trust me my memory is shot, last season Worcester held a pretty good lead come March and the battle at that time was between Erie and Syracuse fighting for second place. Syracuse looked to be out of the contest at one point but managed to get some fluke lake effect snowfall, about 10.5 inches in April which even for Syracuse is pretty much unheard of. Here was the headline on April 2nd of last season. BREAKING NEWS – Syracuse Plows Past Worcester and Erie :) Let’s hope we hear that again this season.

OK, enough rambling and the point I am trying to make, I think, is don’t count Worcester out of this seasons contest. They are battle tested and proven and the question is do they have enough snowballs left to win the snowball fight this season? Keep in mind also that Worcester, Massachusetts is one of those cities that know how to pick up any snow that is hanging around them and they almost always get in on the coastal storms.

Right now they are a ways behind the current King of the snow mountain Erie but they are climbing pretty fast. I don’t even think they were in the top 20 at the beginning of this month but have moved up to #7. So far for February and it’s not over yet Worcester has piled up 38.2 inches of new snowfall. Their total right now for the season is 77.6 inches putting them 32.9 inches over their normal total to date which on average is should only be 44.7 inches. They are also 10 inches over last seasons total snowfall for this time in the season which was 67.5 inches of snow. Yup, I would say that those of us ahead of Worcester, Mass should be watching our backs right now for their sneak attack ;)

Have an Awesome Night All ;)

Grand Rapids, Michigan Slides Past Syracuse and Buffalo, NY

Posted by Patrick on February 18, 2014
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

First Off – A big Thank You to John P. for a contribution to the snow site. I just want you to know how much it’s appreciated and how much they help. Thanks John :)
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OK, I was thinking that Syracuse, NY would have been the second Big city this season to hit 100 inches of snow being stuck at 99.9 inches. I even came close to writing something about it ahead of time to get a jump on it. Good thing I didn’t because Grand Rapids is the second city to hit the 100 inch mark :) Way to go Grand Rapids and now that they have over 100 inches they also slid from 4th place on the snow mountain to the number 2 spot.

Grand Rapids is also closing in a little on Erie, PA who has been the King of the snow mountain for quite awhile now. A little too long if you ask me but then again I’m from Syracuse so what do you expect ;) Seriously though, Erie has been tough this season and they are still adding to their total snowfall just about every update.

I also just got an email from Valeria pointing me to an article Here at MLive that shows that this is Grand Rapids 8th snowiest season on record. According to Andrew Krietz at Mlive.com Grand Rapids is only 6.1 inches away from having the second snowiest season ever and 31.2 inches way from their snowiest season ever. Definitely reachable I think with this much time left in the snow season. Good Luck ;)

Grand Rapids, MI not only hit 100 + inches of snow, passed Buffalo and Syracuse but they have closed in to the top spot by less than a foot now. They broke a date record yesterday by picking up 5.6 inches of the fresh white fluffy stuff beating the old record of 4.7 inches set in 1956. I’m thinking this is starting to turn into a 4 city snow race to the top but I think it is still too early to think that.

Right now Grand Rapids is about 41 inches over what their snow totals should be for this time in the season. They also already have a couple of feet of snow more than what their entire seasons totals are normally which is right around 75 inches with a lot of time left n this season. All I can say is Stay Tuned, it will be interesting right until the last snowflake falls ;)

Here are some of the cities that set a date snow total record yesterday.

Detroit — New 3.5 – Old 3.3 Inches – 2003
Grand Rapids, Michigan — New 5.6 – Old 4.7 inches – 1956
MILWAUKEE, WI — New 6.7 – Old 3.5 inches – 1901
Flint — New 4.5 – Old 2.6 inches – 1956
Ft Wayne — New 2.9 inches – Old 1.8 – 1924
Minneapolis, Minnesota — New 4.9 – Old 3.8 inches – 1972
Rochester, MN — New 3.6 – Old 2.0 inches – 1939

Have a Great Day Everyone :)

Will Erie, PA Have It’s 10th Snowiest Winter on Record

Posted by Patrick on February 17, 2014
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

I don’t think it’s a matter of WILL but more like WHEN will Erie pass the 10th snowiest season and how far down the list will they go? Erie, Pennsylvania is closing in on it’s 10th snowiest season on record and there is still a lot of time left in the season, like it or not. Erie, Pa went over the 110 inch mark the other day and with a snow storm closing in on them tonight there is a slight chance they may break their record for the 10th snowiest season come the end of tomorrow. Reading around it looks like as of now Erie is under an advisory and the forecast is calling for 3-5 inches between today and tomorrow. Erie needs to pick up just another 8 inches of new snow to move into the number 10 spot on the list.

Right now Erie, Pa is at 110.8 inches on the season and looking at their 10 top snowiest seasons (Thanks Gary for sharing) Erie needs to get to 118.8 inches to pass the old record of 118.7 inches which was set back in the 2007-2008 snow season. With so much time left in the snow season and with it looking like the cold will be around for awhile other than a short break in a few days Erie has a decent chance in my opinion of at least climbing into their top 5 snowiest seasons on record and who knows, maybe even the snowiest season ever on record. That one is down the road a bit though.

Erie, Pennsylvania’s snowiest season according to the National Weather Service (NOAA) is 149.1 which happened in the 2000-2001 season. Erie is still away from breaking that record but with the way the storms have been lining up this season ya never know. Stay Tuned and below are the top 10 snowiest seasons courtesy of Gary and the National Weather Service. For what it’s worth, Syracuse got stuck at 99.9 inches as of today. Couldn’t even squeeze out just another tenth of snow :)

Top 10 Snowiest Seasons

1. 149.1 – 2000-01
2. 145.8 – 2008-09
3. 143.0 – 2002-03
4. 142.8 – 1977-78
5. 131.3 – 1993-94
6. 129.2 – 1995-96
7. 124.9 – 1985-86
8. 122.6 – 2004-05
9. 120.0 – 1970-71
10. 118.7 – 2007-08

Snow Storm Pax Was a Snow Maker New Cities in Top 20 Snowiest

Posted by Patrick on February 14, 2014
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Updated 2/14 7:00 PM - Wow, this is turning into a Full time job this season :) A little bit of breaking news. Syracuse pulled in enough snow from the storm to move them into 2nd place on the Snow Mountain in the National Snow Contest. Should Erie be worried about a repeat from last season? Nah, not just yet but they may want to think about doing a snow dance or something to play it safe ;)

In the last week give or take Erie, PA has watched their lead over Syracuse melt away from an over 26 inch lead to the lead they hold right now which is 14.6 inches. On the bright side for Erie, they are still adding snow to their totals and I just added another 1.3 inches to their totals. Syracuse picked up a little less than I was expecting adding 9.5 inches of new snow from the 2 day storm. Stay Tuned ;)

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First off Happy Valentines Day Everyone and I Hope it’s a Great One ;) For those of you single like myself, the parties at my house! No, scratch that, I’m joking, kind of ;)

The latest snow storm Pax turned out to be a decent snow maker for a lot of cities and states. We have one new city in the top 10 which is no stranger to being there and several jumped into the top 20 snowiest cities. I know with these last couple of storms that there are quite a few cities that aren’t listed here that probably should be now. If any of you have any suggestions feel free to post the city but please make sure the population is over 100,000. I have no problem taking a few out and replacing them with a snowier city. You know, like Erie PA… Oh stop, that would never happen, I love having Erie in the contest along with Grand Rapids and most of the others.

Welcome back to the top 10 snowiest cities to our friends in Worcester, Mass. It took awhile this season but with your 10.5 inches that has been reported so far you jumped from #14 to #9 on the snow mountain knocking out Flint, Michigan. Can you climb to the top 3 like you did last season?

New in the top 20 and IMO it’s pretty cool seeing some of them there is Allentown and Philadelphia, PA. Allentown went from number 25 to 13 picking up 17.8 inches of snow from storm PAX. Philly picked up 10.4 inches so far and jumped from 26 to 16 on the snow mountain.

Also new in the top 20 snowiest cities are New York City and Newark, NJ. Newark, New Jersey went from #24 to #17 picking up 9.4 inches of new snow so far and NYC moved from number 29 to number 20 on the snow mountain picking up 9.5 inches of new snow. Hard to believe that it wasn’t a date record for NYC though. There was quite a bit of shuffling done with this last storm but Erie still remains safe at the top of the mountain.

Here in the Syracuse area we picked up more than I thought we were going to or should I say here at my house. I measured 12.5 inches of new snow but I am not sure what the airport will have to report. So far they are only reporting 4.1 inches of new snow for yesterday and it will be interesting what they show for the overnight and today when the new snow stats come out a little later. If they are close to what I measured plus it is still snowing then Syracuse should move past Grand Rapids currently in 3rd and perhaps even Buffalo, NY who holds the 2nd place spot on the snow mountain.

STAY TUNED ALL and as always, See Snow – Drive Slow!

Watch Out Erie, Buffalo and Grand Rapids, Here Comes Syracuse

Posted by Patrick on February 13, 2014
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Well it’s looking like it’s a go for Syracuse with this storm. It’s been shifting north west all day and the weather service just changed the advisory to a winter storm warning. Hopefully this is Catch up time for Syracuse and a few of the other cities.

Erie has way too big of a lead for any of the cities to catch them with one storm but another 2 or 3 and it should be a close snow race. Watch out Erie, PA, Here we come. Then again the way Erie has been playing this season they find a way to tap into any snow that is hanging around the country so maybe we better wait and see if this storm goes far enough west to reach them too.

As of the last update from NOAA they have Syracuse expecting anywhere from 8-10 inches but our locals are saying 2-6. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how it all pans out.

Here is the latest briefing from our National Weather Service for Syracuse

Here is a good article by Glenn Coin about how frozen the Great Lakes are now and how they may be frozen over the most that they have ever been before all is said and done this winter. Worth reading :)

I’m going to try and get at least a top 10 update in tonight. I’ve been waiting for todays snow stats to come out which is right about now. Have a Great Night All…..