national snow contest

All posts tagged national snow contest

Erie, Pa King of The Snow Mountain Once Again

Posted by Patrick on November 13, 2014
Posted in: All US Snow Cities, Erie PA Snowfall. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , .

First, as always, a Big Thanks to Sue G. for your donation to the site. They always help out a lot and are very much appreciated. Thanks Sue for taking the time :)
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OK! I have to admit I was blind sided and slid into the ditch when I saw the snow totals for Erie, Pa. I figured they would be getting some snow but I wasn’t expecting anything like a foot of snowfall to start Erie, Pennsylvania’s snow season off. Remember they were only showing a trace of snow up until now. As of the last update from the National weather service they are reporting 11.8 inches of the fresh white gold on the ground and it sounds like Erie isn’t finished yet. Even though the National Weather Service isn’t showing it yet my guess is they probably set a date snowfall record. WTG Erie :)

There was a whole lot of sliding around this update and 3 cities sled past Anchorage, Alaska who held the lead up until today. Erie, Pa, South Bend, Indiana and Fort Collins, Colorado moved into the top 3 slots on the Golden Snow Globe snow mountain.

South Bend set a date record picking up 6.2 inches of snow breaking the old record of 4.7 set back in 1974. It’s good to have you back South Bend :)

As for those of us in Syracuse, New York we figure we will sit back until about February and then turn on our Lake Effect Machine for the big finish. Oh wait, that didn’t go too good last season did it? It looks like it will be another fun snow season and with last seasons snow champs starting with a big lead it should be a lot of fun trying to catch them. Good Luck to all of the cities.

As always, See Snow – Drive Slow unless of course your on a sled or the ski mountains :) Have a great night all!

Welcome Back to the Snow Contest South Bend

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

10/14/2014 – Breaking News - It’s official, South Bend, Indiana is back so watch out Erie, Syracuse, Buffalo, Billings and the rest of the top snowiest big cities in the US. I received a phone call from Maggie from the National Weather Service in Syracuse, Indiana returning my call and who left a msg on my phone confirming that they are receiving snow stats for this season for South Bend, In. Thanks for getting back to me Maggie, much appreciated… Let’s just hope it lasts :) Welcome back Cory and the rest of South Bend and Good Luck!

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I just updated all of the Cities in the National Snow Contest and as always took a peek at South Bend, Indiana. I do that every now and then to see if the National Weather Service out of Syracuse, Indiana is showing any snow stats for South Bend. To refresh all of our memories last season the airport stopped measuring the snowfall for the National Weather Service. That was in December of 2013 so we had to remove South Bend from the Golden Snow Globe contest for the fact we couldn’t get any official snow stats.

I just looked and I am showing that the snow stats are being listed once again so let’s that NOAA found a group or maybe got the airport to start taking measurements again. South Bend is a formidable opponent for all of the Snowy cities with a population of 100,000 or more and it would be great to have them back in. Keep your fingers crossed Cory and the rest of you from the South Bend area. Then again maybe it’s just a fluke they are showing snow stats but I haven’t seen them list them since the 2013 – 2014 early snow season back in December.

I do have a couple of calls out to the Syracuse, Indiana (Love that name Syracuse :) ) weather service so hopefully they will get back to me about what’s going on and if they are getting Snow Measurements again. Here is more info on what went down last season.

Buffalo, New York is the only city this update to join the Trace of snow club which makes 11 cities showing a trace of snow for the 2014 – 2015 snow season. There are also quite a few cities that are behind what their normal snowfall should be for this time into the season. I think I counted 19 cities in the Golden Snow Globe national snow contest that should have at least 0.1 of snow or more this update. In other words it’s closing in on us all and of course it’s just a matter of time now.

One other thing for those of you from Erie, Pa. Ruth sent me a tweet about a poll on the yourerie.com site asking when you think the first snowfall will be for Erie, Pa. If you look to the right and scroll down a bit you will see the poll at Thanks for taking the time Ruth ;)

The last several days and nights were pretty cold in the Syracuse, NY area but today was a little warmer and I think upper 70′s for Tuesday. Every nice day we can get right now I’ll take and I’m sure most of you are thinking the same way.

OK, so which city is going to be the one that starts off the 2014 – 1015 Golden Snow Globe contest? Have an Awesome Night All ;)

Which Snowiest City Will Start National Snow Contest

Posted by Patrick on October 2, 2014
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

Do any of you have a guesstimate as to which of the snowiest cities in the US will start off the Golden Snow Globe national snow contest for the 2014 – 2015 snow season? Personally I think it’s going to be a toss up between Anchorage, Alaska, Most of the Colorado cities and Billings, Montana. I’m going to go with Billings, Montana to get the first measurable snow of the season. Keep in mind though that there has been some snow falling in Alaska, just not in Anchorage as of this last update. Leave a comment in this post with your pick if you have some time ;)

Yeah, I know it’s way too early to even think about snow especially when the weather has been really awesome the last couple of weeks. At least on most of the east coast anyways. I normally don’t even look at the snow stats this early in the season but as I mentioned on the New York Golden Snowball website I had a major computer crash on my other computer so I kind of need to give this antique computer I am using a couple of test rides to get all of the bugs out when updating the website. It’s slower than it will seem like this coming winter will seem like but so far at least it’s working.

I’m also looking for a couple of advertisers or sponsors for the website this season. If you work at a company or know of one that may be interested please have them get in contact with me for some details about the cost and site stats. I’m thinking this year, not season may hit 1,000,000 page views or at least come close to that. Our little snow site has grown each year that it’s been around which I am loving because I am getting to meet a lot of you that are from all over the country. Just click on the contact page above to get in touch with me.

I’m looking forward to the new season (That is sooo untrue) and I am sure it will be as much fun as last season was. Thanks to all of you who posted comments, sent emails and made donations to the site last season. It was an awesome group and I hope to see everyone posting again this season. Enough said and to those of you in Erie, Pa, Not Happening this season. You’re going down ;)

Enjoy the rest of what we have of the nice weather everyone. See ya all soon, ummmm, unfortunately :P

A Trace of Snow for Another City and Brrrrr

Posted by Patrick on September 12, 2014
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

First off as always Thanks to Kyle T and Joseph J. for your donations over the summer. Even though the snowiest US cities site is kind pretty much dead over the summer the your donations helped out paying the hosting bill. Thanks again and I truly appreciate them :)
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I think this is the coldest it’s been in a long time here in the Syracuse area. It’s currently 56 degrees as I type this and unfortunately the next several days aren’t looking a whole lot better :( Yeah, I’m that type of person that you just hate because I whine when it’s too hot or too cold. I will take this over the 90 degree weather most of the time though.

I just did a full update on all of the snowiest cities in the US with a population of 100,000 or more. Another city is showing a trace of snow this update. Billings, Montana is the latest to see some snowflakes falling. Looking at the snow stats they are currently behind their average snowfall for the season to date which for Billings is 0.2 tenths of an inch of snow. Fort Collins, Colorado is the only other city that I saw that should have some measurable snowfall by now which is only 1 tenth of an inch.

Three cities are now showing a trace of snowfall and keep in mind that even though I have them at the top, a trace doesn’t count as measurable snowfall. So in other words it’s a 51 way tie right now for first place. Ummm, If your glass is half empty then it’s a 51 way tie for last place ;) The 3 cities with a trace are Billings, MT, Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Fort Wayne Indiana which kind of surprises me. I have to admit it is kind of depressing typing about snow. It seems like summer just started a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully this will be a fun winter at the Golden Snow Globe and winter will fly right by…

Warning, Shameless Plug – For those of you that get into Halloween decorating I have you covered. I have a couple of Halloween inflatable blowup sites that are all updated with the newest Halloween Blowups. There are several new inflatables for your yard out this season and a few of them are pretty cool. Click Halloween Inflatables and Blowups to check them out and thanks…

Enjoy what’s left of summer all and hopefully there is plenty of warm weather still to come.

Congratulations Erie, Pa Snowiest Big City 2013 – 2014

Posted by Patrick on May 1, 2014
Posted in: All US Snow Cities, Erie PA Snowfall. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

A Big Thanks to John A. for your recent donation to the website and to all who have donated this season. They help out a lot. Thanks John, I truly appreciate it.

A Big Congratulations to all of you in Erie Pennsylvania on winning this seasons Golden Snow Globe contest. Erie, PA snowiest city in the US and King of the Snow Mountain :) This season was without a doubt one of the closest snow contests right till the end and was definitely the most fun that it has ever been which is what it’s all about. Erie, you do deserve it!  I made a few phone calls tonight to a couple of the National Weather Service stations and both of them felt it is safe enough to call a Wrap for the 2013 – 2014 snow season. I think that this late in the year and with Erie’s half a foot of snow lead I can agree with them. You might want to hold off on the victory shirts a little longer though just in case :)

I’m not quite convinced that we won’t see a snowflake or two but Erie, PA 138.4 inches of snow for the season and second place Syracuse has 132.0 inches of snow for the season. The National Weather Service thinks the 6 inch lead should be enough to say, It’s a Wrap and way to go Erie ;)

This season was no different than the others and the best part is getting to meet a lot of different people from across the United States. I’ve been in contact with more than normal this season whether it was by you leaving comments or sending emails. I had a blast and I can’t wait until next season. OK, that’s a lie and I can wait and look forward to some decent sunny weather now. A big Thanks to all of you who have left comments and sent emails and to all of you who would just stop by for a visit to check out the snow stats. A Big Thanks to those of you who took the time to make donations to the site. They helped out a lot and offset the costs of running the site. Thanks ;)

I received several comments and emails from some good folks in Erie who were getting a little nervous and with reason. I’m pretty sure that Erie held the lead for most of the season only to see Syracuse slip ahead of them toward the end of March, right around the 24th. I was thinking and being from Syracuse hoping that it was going to be a repeat of last season when Syracuse piled on a bunch of snow at the end to take the title as snowiest big city in the US. Nope, Erie wasn’t having any of that this season and actually piled on a few more inches of snow to cushion their lead toward the end. Even Captain Dan from the radio station www.wmce.fm  was getting chest pains, not from shoveling but from how close the snow contest was :)

No doubt all of you from Erie, PA deserve the bragging rights just don’t get too use to it because We’ll Be Back. By the way, that’s all you’re getting is bragging rights ;P OK, maybe a virtual pat on the back too ;) Seriously I have looked for hours and hours for a decent award but still haven’t found one I like. If you happen to find something cool that isn’t too expensive then let me know and I’ll check it out..

Here is a quick summary of how the season went and to The Big J show and McLovin at HOT 101.9 in Billings Montana I’ll keep my offer going even though the contest is over ;)

10/22/13 – I finally take a look to see if any of the cities have any snow. Lakewood Colorado starts the 2013 – 2014 snow season off showing 3 inches of snow. There were some lead changes and Sioux Falls, SD and Anchorage, AK held the lead at one point.

11/26/13 – Rochester, NY grabs the lead for a short time.

11/30/13 – Erie, PA jumps to the top of the snow mountain but will be pushed off the top just a few days later.

12/3/13 – Billings Montana trips Erie and they fall down the snow mountain and Billings takes the top spot. Billing held the lead most of the period between 12/3 and 12/15

12/15/13 – Erie, PA says enough of this back and forth stuff and blows into the lead once again and wasn’t going to let go of it or so they thought. This was the longest that a city had held on to the top spot.

2/11/14 – Erie still hasn’t given up the top spot. They were starting to design what they wanted their crown to look like. Erie leads Syracuse, NY by more than 2 feet of snow now. Grand Rapids held the number 2 spot on the mountain for a good part of February.

3/21/14 – Finally a city stepped up to challenge Erie for the lead. It wasn’t enough though and when the snow stopped falling it was Erie and Syracuse in a dead tie.

3/23/14 – Mother Nature sneezed over Erie and they were in the lead by just 0.3 inches. Nope, not over quite yet.

3/24/13 – God Bless you Mother Nature except this time the sneeze was over Syracuse. Syracuse slips past Erie by only 0.2 of an inch and claims the top spot. Who cares after that? Joking ;)

3/26/14 = Erie skates past Syracuse and holds a 2 inch lead over Syracuse. Erie continues to work on the crown design. Erie would hold on to the lead for the rest of the season.

5/1/14 – Erie Pennsylvania, The NEW King of The Snow Mountain!!! Congrats again to all of you from Erie! You do deserve the hard earned bragging rights as being the snowiest Big city in the US :)

I’ll probably do one last update sometime in the next week or so. A Big Thanks to Stephen for his help on the website. A Big thanks to those who made donations and again, a Big Thanks to All of You for making this snow season a lot of fun. Also a Big thanks to all of the media who covered the snow contest throughout the season.

Have a Safe, Awesome Summer Everyone, Patrick and Stephen :)

When Does The National Snow Contest End

Posted by Patrick on April 10, 2014
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

There are two things that have scared me since day one of starting up the National snow contest. One, am I missing a big city that gets a ton of snow and two, am I calling the contest too soon?

The reason I worry about the second, when to wrap up the snow contest is because with my luck one of the cities will get some fluke snow storm in May or June. If the snow contest isn’t close I don’t worry so much but when it is close I tend to stress a little over it. The main reason is because the chances are good that some of the news media will be reporting it and I can see me calling the winner, the news reporting it and then another city goes ahead a week later:(

OK, so when does the contest get called? I’m hoping sometime at the beginning of May depending on what the long term forecast looks like. I think the longest we have gone is May 15th and the reason was because the Colorado cities were making a last minute charge up the snow mountain. This season they are way toward the bottom of the mountain so I don’t see that happening this season. Right now for this time in the season Erie, PA is looking pretty good with their lead of 5.5 inches over the next best and last seasons snow champion Syracuse. I don’t believe any of the cities on top of the snow mountain average that much snow for May so the beginning of May is looking good right now.

Those of you that follow the snow contest on Twitter will be one of the first to know when I call it so if you don’t follow you may want to. Our local paper in Syracuse and Erie, PA Life on Facebook will also be the first to know. Both have been awesome to the snow contest and it’s appreciated. Let’s just hope I don’t blow it :( Erie has held the lead most of the season and I will feel bad if Syracuse goes ahead at the last minute. I’ll fell bad but I’ll get over it. Hey, I’m from Syracuse ;) Good Luck to Both and let’s not forget Buffalo, NY!

The reason I worry about the first is because I don’t list all of the big cities that get snow for the fact that it would take too long to get updates in. I know there are some cities in probably in the Carolina’s that have gotten snow and others around the country but during a normal season it will never be enough to compete with the big snow makers. This season was anything but a normal snow season with many cities breaking all time records. Cities like Billings, Montana who had the most snow ever since records have been kept and there are several others that have had the same kind of season. Seasons like this get me a little nervous ;)

Important – I have been spending hours upon hours dealing with spam comments to the website. This is something I deal with every day of the year including all through summer. I just added a plugin that should hopefully help but I am a little worried that some legitimate comments from those of you that post may be blocked also. If that happens please let me know by contacting me through the contact page so I can make some adjustments. Hopefully you won’t have any problems and that this saves me hours of browsing through all of the spam that I get here.

A BIG Thanks to Carol G. for her donation that we received. Last month I was overwhelmed by the support the site received from a lot of you. Last month alone was more than the site has received in total since we started it a few years back. It’s nice to see the appreciation carrying over into this month and Thank You again to all of you and Thanks again Carol, I truly appreciate it :)

Have a Great Day Everyone :)

Almost Every City Over Average Snow Totals

Posted by Patrick on March 2, 2014
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , .

Here is a COOL Graphic chart that was tweeted to me by a guy from Billings, Montana, twitter handle @bigjshow Thanks for sharing and a shout out to The Big J Show :)

Cool Picture From @bigjshow on twitter

I think that those of us on top really better start paying attention to Billings, Montana. They added another 7.3 inches of new snowfall yesterday setting a date record that was 3.3 inches going back to 1979. I was also reading an article at the Billings Gazette website about how this is their 3rd snowiest season ever and they just blew away their snowiest February on record I believe. Why we need to worry is that the upcoming storm looks like it is going to miss most of the cities on top now staying more to the South. According to the article Billings will be grabbing some snow from the storm. This guy isn’t taking any chances and YES I did just do the last Snow Dance of the season so keep an eye on Syracuse, NY too :)

Secondly, HAPPY MARCH everyone :) For some reason after keeping snow stats for something like 12 years now on the New York snow site, the Golden Snowball March doesn’t excite me as much as it use too. April is a totally different story though. March is that month where you know Spring is just around the corner but it seems to never get here. April, other than last year where Syracuse picked up something like 11 inches of snow we can pretty much figure the snow season is over. Not too many cities get more than a couple of inches of snow in April where as March has been known to produce some pretty big snow storms including the blizzard of 1993. OK, OK, I know, enough already of me depressing you on the first day of March ;)

I just went down the list of snowiest big cities in the United States and even though I knew it’s been a snowy season I was surprised that almost every city is over their average snow totals for this time in the season. The thing is most of the cities aren’t just over their average snowfall but they are blowing the averages away. I think Philadelphia, PA really stands out. Philly has over 3 times the normal snowfall for this time in the season.

Billings, Montana it seems has had snow just about every time I do an update lately it seems. Billings just set a date record for snowfall yesterday picking up a fresh new 7.3 inches of the white fluffy stuff breaking the old record of 3.3 inches set in 1979. Billings is also a city that those on top may want to keep an eye on now. They just went over the 90 inch mark and are currently in 5th place. Billings normal average to date should be 34.5 inches, just one of many blowing away their average snow totals this season.

Our current King of the snow mountain Erie, Pennsylvania is almost 40 inches over their average snowfall right now. A ton of the cities in the contest have more than doubled the average snowfall they would normally have this time in the snow season. Syracuse, NY, Rochester, NY and Sioux Falls, SD are all right around where they should be right now but still a little over.

There are only a handful of cities that are below the amount of snow that they should have at this time. Salt Lake City, Utah, Spokane, Washington, Anchorage, Alaska and I’m guessing maybe Denver and a couple other cities from Colorado that don’t report what the average should be for this time in the snow season. Just think of all of the other cities that we don’t have listed. My guess is there has to be well over one hundred if not more that are way over their snow totals.

I’ve been trying to keep an eye on all of the cities that are having one of their top 10 snowiest season on record but I think there are too many probably to keep track of. I’ll try and get some info on that hopefully next week but if you read the comments section several people are posting where their city is at right now. To those of you in Erie, PA I have 4 words for you. GO FOR THE RECORD ;) Less than 30 inches away, why not have a historic snow season to brag about to the Grand Kids years from now…

Ok, I know my teacher pals that visit here are going to hit me with a ruler for personalizing the cities so many times in this post :(

Have an Awesome Weekend Everyone :)

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 ;)

Buffalo, NY is Moving Up The Snow Mountain

Posted by Patrick on January 7, 2014
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , .

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 :)

Erie, Pa Remains King of The Mountain By Over 2 Feet of Snow

Posted by Patrick on January 2, 2014
Posted in: All US Snow Cities, Erie PA Snowfall. Tagged: , , , , , , .

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 ;)