golden snow globe contest

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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 :)

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…..

Erie Pennsylvania Stays King of the Snow Mountain

Posted by Patrick on February 6, 2014
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , .

Erie, Pennsylvania remains the king on top of the snow mountain, for now anyways ;) Personally, I think they are getting a little greedy with the snow. They seem to be taking the snow from where ever they can. The north, south, east and west. If it’s snowing any place in the US you can almost bet that Erie is going to find a way to get in on it :P

I’m just picking on Erie of course because they are in the lead and have held the lead for quite awhile now. Myself being from the Syracuse area, our bragging rights are on the line right now especially sitting way back in the fourth spot on the snow mountain. Both Buffalo and Grand Rapids are still holding their own and with at least a month plus left in the snow season anything can still happen. Plus don’t count out last seasons competitor Worcester, Mass, they have been moving up pretty good. Anyways, Kudos to Erie for holding onto the snow total lead for so long this season ;)

Here are a few snow stats for some of the cities from yesterdays snow storm Niko. Rochester, NY and Worcester, Mass seem to be the big winners as far as totals go and I’m not sure if there is more snow to add for the overnight. Seven of the cities listed below set a date record.

Erie – 8.1
Buffalo – 8.8 – Old Record 5.2 back in 1916
Grand Rapids – 4.8 – 4.4 – 1942
Syracuse – 10.0 – 5.6 – 1995
Detroit – 7.6 – 5.0 – 1908
Rochester – 12.7 – 5.5 – 1907
Flint – 5.7 – 3.5 – 1982
Ft. Wayne – 6.2 – 5.0 – 1967
Worcester – 12.2
Boston – 10.7
Hartford – 10.2

It looks like there is another storm brewing maybe for the weekend so stay tuned :)

Hello Snowy Chicago and Buh Bye Anchorage, Alaska

Posted by Patrick on January 22, 2014
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , .

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!!

This Eastern/North East Snowstorm Could Make Things Exciting

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

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 :)

Snow Champ Syracuse, NY Drops Down The Snow Mountain

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

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 ;)