I figured it would be worthwhile for me to step out of my usual role and make this post regarding a few issues.
First off, the lack of updates. There is a post over on the New York State Golden Snowball site regarding that. As another note, I am not an admin, nor do I want to be at this time, so I can’t make the updates either. I’ve been fairly busy with work and online classes, so even if I was able to make updates, I am not sure how often those would have occurred. I will be done with my latest course by the end of the month, so with any luck I’ll be able to make more posts at that time.
Also, I’ve noticed comments about Flagstaff, AZ. Yes, they have more snow than Syracuse. However, part of the criteria for making the list is having a population size of 100,000 or more. Their population a bit short of that, so that is why they are not on the list. Pat will have to explain why the threshold is in place, instead of using all NWS sites, when that time comes. I have an idea of why, but it would be better if it came from him, especially if my thought is not correct. For now, part of what I’d like to do when I’m done with my course is to have a ranking of the cities that are short of the threshold, but do have National Weather Service reports. I’d also use reports from stations that aren’t used on our official listing, like Dulles for Washington, DC. I figure it could be similar to the former WOW contest on the Golden Snowball site.
With this being the first year of this contest, we’re all working out the kinks. Things haven’t quite gone as planned on my end, as I would have liked to taken more of a reporting role like I did earlier with the first snow storm that hit the mid-Atlantic states and snow in Arizona. Perhaps I’ll be able to do that more next season when my program should be completed. We’re using everything that has happened this season as a learning experience to make the future seasons’ contests go as smoothly as possible.
Thanks for your understanding in all this and have a great week!