snowfall data

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With the big snow storm in New England wrapped up, I figured this would be a good time to check the totals for February so far. As a reminder, sleepers are in italics, and I used both sleepers as starters this month, which gives me 6 starters for February.

GSG Fantasy Snowfall 2013 February Update
Pat Steve
107.80 76.75
Starters (Full Credit)
Buffalo, NY 17.2 Anchorage, AK 3.7
Erie, PA 17.9 Cleveland, OH 10.2
Syracuse, NY 24.4 Rochester, NY 15.9
Worcester, MA 29.9 Salt Lake City, UT 0.4
Newark, NJ 10.8 Boston, MA 26.8
South Bend, IN 10.7
Total 100.2 Total 67.7
Bench (Half Credit)
Fort Collins, CO 1.2 Denver, CO 0.0
Green Bay, WI 5.9 Des Moines, IA 0.5
Spokane, WA 0.3 Madison, WI 10.9
St. Paul, MN 6.9 Minneapolis, MN 6.7
Pueblo, CO 0.9
Total 7.60 Total 9.05

Not surprisingly, the one with all northeast cities starting is currently leading…and big. Taking a look at totals from January, several cities are well above their totals for the entire month of January. With the big snow storm in the northeast, you’d expect that out of those cities, but even the midwest cities like Green Bay, Madison, Minneapolis and St. Paul have more snow in 9 days of February than 31 days of January. It seems like I picked a bad month to bench Madison and Minneapolis, for now anyway.

We’ll get another Fantasy Snowfall update to wrap up February. Depending on how things go between now and then, there may be another update earlier. Until then, have a good one everyone!

It’s February 1st, time to see the results for January! It was an interesting end to the month, I’ll have more on that below the table. As a reminder, sleepers are in italics.

GSG Fantasy Snowfall 2013 January Results
Pat Steve
80.25 84.55
Starters (Full Credit)
Buffalo, NY 6.2 Anchorage, AK 14.7
Erie, PA 29.0 Madison, WI 8.9
Spokane, WA 14.2 Rochester, NY 11.7
Syracuse, NY 11.6 Salt Lake City, UT 23.8
Pueblo, CO 3.8 South Bend, IN 11.9
Total 64.8 Total 71.0
Bench (Half Credit)
Fort Collins, CO 2.6 Cleveland, OH 5.4
Green Bay, WI 14.8 Denver, CO 4.6
St. Paul, MN 4.8 Des Moines, IA 7.5
Worcester, MA 7.3 Minneapolis, MN 4.6
Newark, NJ 1.4 Boston, MA 5.0
Total 15.45 Total 13.55

I’m always amazed at how quickly things can change. On the 1/27 update, neither of our team totals reached 60 inches…but both of us hit over 80 for the month.

Now on to February. Pat and I set our rosters earlier, and here are our starters…
Pat:
Buffalo, NY
Erie, PA
Syracuse, NY
Worcester, MA
Newark, NJ

Pat’s going regional here, as all five starters are in the northeast. Also to keep in mind: Fort Collins, Green Bay and St. Paul still have to start at least once, while Buffalo, Erie and Syracuse must go on the bench once. Both sleepers still need to be starting one more time. Pat also has the “2 sleeper” option available, which would give him an extra starter in either March or April.

Steve:
Anchorage, AK
Cleveland, OH
Rochester, NY
Salt Lake City, UT
Boston, MA
South Bend, IN

I’m going with a more spread out look with half of my starters outside the northeast. I’m also using my “2 sleeper” option this month, giving me the extra starter for February. Denver, Des Moines and Minneapolis still need to start, while Anchorage, Rochester and Salt Lake City still need to be benched. South Bend has started the 2 months required for a sleeper while Boston still needs to start once more.

What cities will be the big snow getters this month?

Hey, have a great weekend everyone and enjoy the Super Bowl!

With the first month almost wrapped up in the Fantasy Snowfall contest, here’s another update. As a reminder, sleepers are in italics.

GSG Fantasy Snowfall 2013 January Update
Pat Steve
59.90 47.00
Starters (Full Credit)
Buffalo, NY 4.4 Anchorage, AK 10.3
Erie, PA 25.7 Madison, WI 2.0
Spokane, WA 12.3 Rochester, NY 10.3
Syracuse, NY 10.5 Salt Lake City, UT 10.5
Pueblo, CO 1.0 South Bend, IN 7.7
Total 53.9 Total 40.8
Bench (Half Credit)
Fort Collins, CO 0.5 Cleveland, OH 4.6
Green Bay, WI 3.3 Denver, CO 1.4
St. Paul, MN 1.4 Des Moines, IA 1.1
Worcester, MA 5.7 Minneapolis, MN 1.6
Newark, NJ 1.1 Boston, MA 3.7
Total 6.00 Total 6.20

The game changing performance right now is Erie, PA with over 2 feet of snow this month. That changed what has been a close race into what appears to be a blow out for Pat. Of course, there still is over 3 months left in the contest, and with each of us needing to start and bench each city at least once, things could get interesting through the season. The one thing going for me? My sleepers are outperforming Pat’s. I might need to activate my “2 sleeper” option in February.

Speaking of February, the next update will be then, showing the final results for the month and the new lineups for both Pat and myself.

With the first 2 weeks almost wrapped up in the Fantasy Snowfall contest, I thought I’d give a quick look at the results so far. Totals are through 1/12/12 and sleepers are in italics.

GSG Fantasy Snowfall 2013 January Update
Pat Steve
18.00 16.35
Starters (Full Credit)
Buffalo, NY 1.0 Anchorage, AK 0.7
Erie, PA 1.0 Madison, WI 0.0
Spokane, WA 11.0 Rochester, NY 3.9
Syracuse, NY 4.1 Salt Lake City, UT 10.4
Pueblo, CO 0.0 South Bend, IN 0.1
Total 17.1 Total 15.1
Bench (Half Credit)
Fort Collins, CO 0.5 Cleveland, OH 0.0
Green Bay, WI 0.2 Denver, CO 1.4
St. Paul, MN 0.9 Des Moines, IA 0.1
Worcester, MA 0.2 Minneapolis, MN 1.0
Newark, NJ 0.0 Boston, MA 0.0
Total 0.90 Total 1.25

So far this month, Pat has played this as well as he could: the four regular starters all have more snowfall than his four regular bench. On the other hand, I have two on the bench with more snow than two of my starters. So I am not at the maximum I could have had up to this point. For what’s it’s worth, I’d still be trailing, but not by as much. Also of note, South Bend has the most of the four sleepers with 0.1.

The first quarter warps up at the end of the month. By which time Pat and I will have our starting line ups for February all set.

Happy New Year everyone!

To celebrate the start of 2013, Pat and I thought it would be fun to do a fantasy snowfall competition (with inspiration from weather.com). For this year, it will be between the two of us, but we hope that in the future we can expand. We have a few ideas for that in mind, but for now welcome to Golden Snow Globe’s Fantasy Snowfall 2013!

Here’s how it works for this year. A few days ago Pat and I drafted 10 cities. Before the start of each month, we have to decide which 5 we want to be our starters, and which 5 to be on the bench. Starters get full credit, while bench are half. The team with the most snowfall at the end of April wins!

But of course, there is a catch. We must start all 10 cities at least once, and each city must be on the bench at least once. In addition, we each have 2 sleepers. These are cities that as of the 12/28 update were outside the top 25. The sleepers must each be used twice. We each can have both sleepers as starters in one month (but not necessarily the same month), in which case, 6 starters would be allowed.

So, without further ado, here are the teams for 2013! Note: This month’s starters are in bold.

GSG Fantasy Snowfall 2013 Teams
Pat Steve
Sleepers
Newark, NJ Boston, MA
Pueblo, CO South Bend, IN
Buffalo, NY Anchorage, AK
Erie, PA Cleveland, OH
Fort Collins, CO Denver, CO
Green Bay, WI Des Moines, IA
Spokane, WA Madison, WI
St. Paul, MN Minneapolis, MN
Syracuse, NY Rochester, NY
Worcester, MA Salt Lake City, UT

Again, we’re just basically playing around with this for 2013. Whether we keep all these rules (or add new ones) in the future is to be determined. Though, the more people/teams we have in the future the less cities will be on a team.

I’ll try to do updates twice a month. We hope you enjoy following along!

By the way, what does your calendar say? If it’s 2012, it’s time to get a new one! So why not check some out at buywallcalendars.com? You’ll get a good deal and help support the site. Thanks! :)

With the national snowfall contest just about to wrap up, I thought I’d follow up on an earlier post comparing this season’s Anchorage totals to last season’s Syracuse numbers.

Up first, snowfall for the season, as of May 11th.

2011-12 Anchorage: 134.5
2010-11 Syracuse: 179.0

Syracuse had 34.5 inches more snow last season than Anchorage does this season. But we can’t just stop the comparison there…how much higher than average are these totals?

2011-12 Anchorage: 60.1 (74.4 average)
2010-11 Syracuse: 55.2 (123.8 average)

When compared to their respective averages, Anchorage comes out on top by less than half a foot! Not only that, but this season is Anchorage’s snowiest season on record (since 1917)! For Syracuse, the 179.0 mark was their 4th snowiest since 1951.

In the end, both cities had some impressive totals in their respective seasons. Who knows what we’re in store for next season…and maybe some other city will steal the show!

Hey, enjoy these last few days of the contest and have a great off season!

With Anchorage, AK having a huge lead as of the last update, it got me thinking about how they would stack up with Syracuse’s totals from last season. I’ll be taking a look at a two different pieces in each post: how the two stack up straight up, and how they each compare to their respective averages. I figure this could be a fun feature throughout the remainder of the season, given how far up Anchorage is. And that’s what got me thinking about this comparison. Anchorage this season has a big lead, like Syracuse did a year ago.

Alright, enough rambling, let’s get to the stats!

Up first, snowfall, as of January 24th.

2011-12 Anchorage: 90.4
2010-11 Syracuse: 111.8

And here’s how far above average those are.

2011-12 Anchorage: 43.6
2010-11 Syracuse: 42.9

Well, hello there! Anchorage is slightly more above average than Syracuse was last season. The two seasons are indeed quite similar.

By the way, this time last year, Anchorage was sitting at 39.1 inches (7.7 below average). This season, Syracuse is currently at 27.6 (42.4 below average).

Good luck saying that title 5 times fast! :)

I posted this on goldensnowball.com, but I figured it would be worthwhile to have on here as well.

According to the National Weather Service, the storm produced the fourth highest snowfall totals in any four day period on record. Below are the top 4 four day totals, with the last date in the four day period in parenthesis.

44.6 inches (2/1/1966)
44.5 inches (3/14/1993)
44.3 inches (1/31/1966)
43.2 inches (12/8/2010)

I find it a bit interesting that the three higher amounts are all in the later portion of the season. So, in other words, this the highest amount of snow Syracuse has ever had in a four day period this early in the season.

It was also the 6th highest 5 day total, and the 5th highest 3 day total.

It snowed continuously from 6:16 AM December 4th to 8:10 AM December 8th. That’s a total of 97 hours and 54 minutes.

By the way, Winter has not officially begun yet. That’s December 21st, almost 2 weeks away.

On another note, I will try to get an update on the driest and wettest cities done this weekend. I fell a little bit behind with that lately, so I’ll try to make it up soon.

At last, it’s time to reveal the top 50 NWS reporting stations.

Rankings 11-50
Rank Location City Population Season Snowfall
11 Burlington, VT 38,889 91.0
12 Rochester, NY 219,773 89.6
13 Cheyenne, WY 53,011 87.3
14 Mansfield, OH 49,579 84.1
15 Binghamton, NY 47,380 81.4
16 Bluefield, VA 5,078 81.1
17 Philadelphia, PA 1,517,550 78.7
18 Pittsburgh, PA 334,563 77.4
19 Baltimore, MD 651,154 77.0
20 Youngstown, OH 82,026 75.7
21 Buffalo, NY 292,648 74.1
22 Cold Bay, AK 74 74.0
23 Muskegon, MI 40,105 73.6
24 Washington (Dulles), DC 572,059 73.2
25 Wilmington, DE 72,664 72.7
26 Scottsbluff, NE 14,732 72.4
27 Grand Rapids, MI 197,800 72.2
28 Caribou, ME 8,312 69.6
29 Des Moines, IA 198,682 69.0
30 Sault Ste. Marie, MI 16,542 68.8
31 Casper, WY 49,644 64.9
32 Worcester, MA 172,648 64.6
33 Akron, OH 217,074 63.1
34 Juneau, AK 30,711 62.2
35 Charleston, WV 53,421 61.3
35 Duluth, MN 86,918 61.3
37 Valley, NE 1,788 60.6
38 Anchorage, AK 260,283 60.5
39 North Platte, NE 23,878 60.2
40 Sioux City, IA 8,2807 59.8
40 Allentown, PA 106,632 59.8
42 Cleveland, OH 478,403 59.5
43 Sisseton, SD 2,572 59.3
44 Denver, CO 554,636 58.8
45 Watertown, SD 20,237 58.6
46 Riverton, WY 9,310 58.4
47 Atlantic City, NJ 40,517 58.1
48 Harrisburg, PA 48,950 57.3
48 South Bend, IN 107,789 57.3
50 Sioux Falls, SD 123,975 57.1

You didn’t believe I’d just reveal the top 10 that way, did you? Big surprise for me among the 40 listed is Cheyenne, WY almost cracking the top 10, coming in 13th. A little humorous to me is Cold Bay Alaska, population 74, has 74 inches, one inch per person. Probably won’t see that again any time soon. Now, here are the top 10:

10. Ely, NV: 91.1
Ely’s population is 4,041 and just snuck in ahead of Burlington, VT and has the most snow among the Nevada cities.

9. Erie, PA: 91.4
Erie, population 103,717, the 2nd place city among those with population over 100,000 comes in 9th among all NWS sites.

8. Lander, WY: 102.4
Lander, population 6,867, has the most snow among Wyoming sites.

7. Elkins, WV: 104.7
Elkins, population 7,032, is 7th overall, but is 2nd among West Virginia stations.

6. Syracuse, NY: 106.1
Syracuse, with a population of 147,036, having the most snow among cities with population over 100,000, is 6th place.

5. Yakutat, AK: 107.1
Yakutat, population 680, is the top city among those with population under 1,000.

4. Beckley, WV: 132.9
Beckley’s population is 17,254 and has the most snow among West Virginia sites.

3. Flagstaff, AZ: 141.8
As mentioned in the previous post, Flagstaff, with population 52,894 is not the top city, but does have the most among cities with a population of 50,000 or more.

2. Marquette, MI: 145.6
Marquette, population 19,661, has the most snow among those with a population of 5,000 or more and is in 2nd place overall.

1. Valdez, AK: 293.3
Valdez, population 4,036, with almost 300 inches of snow, claims the top spot among all NWS sites.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this countdown for the season among all NWS sites. Remember, all snowfall data is from early April, and population statistics are from the most recent estimates available from city-data.com.

Have a great week everyone!

As we are closer to revealing the season’s snowiest National Weather Service stations, here are the ones that fell in the 51-100 ranking range.

Rankings 51-100
Rank Location City Population Season Snowfall
51 Washington (Reagan), DC 572,059 56.1
52 Bangor, ME 31,473 55.7
53 Norfolk, NE 23,516 55.0
54 Chicago, IL 2,896,016 54.2
55 Bismark, ND 55,532 54.1
56 Islip, NY 20,575 53.8
57 Blacksburg, VA 39,573 53.6
58 Waterloo, IA 68,747 52.8
59 Rochester, MN 85,806 52.5
60 Kodiak, AK 6,334 52.0
61 Concord, NH 42,255 51.8
62 New York (Central Park), NY 8,008,278 51.4
63 Great Falls, MT 56,690 51.0
63 Billings, MT 89,847 51.0
65 Rockford, IL 150,115 50.7
65 Madison, WI 208,054 50.7
67 Huron, SD 11,893 50.6
67 Columbus, OH 711,470 50.6
69 Jackson, KY 2,490 50.5
70 Elko, NV 16,708 50.3
71 Davenport, IA 98,359 50.1
72 Scranton, PA 76,415 48.5
73 Mitchell, SD 14,558 48.0
74 Newark, NJ 273,546 47.9
75 Omaha, NE 390,007 47.6
76 Grand Forks (University), ND 49,321 47.3
77 New York (LaGuardia), NY 8,008,278 47.2
78 Moline, IL 43,088 46.9
79 Fargo, ND 90,599 46.6
80 International Falls, MN 6,703 46.4
81 Hastings, NE 24,064 45.5
82 Chanhassen, MN 20,321 45.4
82 Albany, NY 95,658 45.4
84 Flint, MI 124,943 45.1
85 King Salmon, AK 442 44.7
86 Grand Island, NE 42,940 44.5
87 Kansas City, MO 441,545 44.3
88 Detroit, MI 951,270 43.7
89 Alpena, MI 11,304 43.5
90 Nome, AK 3,505 43.4
90 Pierre, SD 13,876 43.4
92 Dubuque, IA 57,686 43.3
93 Mobridge, SD 3,574 43.2
94 Roanoke, VA 94,911 43.1
95 Green Bay, WI 102,313 43.0
96 Lansing, MI 119,128 42.6
97 Mason City, IA 29,172 42.5
98 Peoria, IL 112,936 42.4
99 Rhinelander, WI 7,735 42.3
100 Lincoln, NE 225,581 41.6

Albany, having the least snow among the Golden Snowball cities, is in a tie for 82nd place in the country. It’s also a bit interesting to see the differences among cities with multiple reporting stations. For example, New York City’s Central Park station is in 62nd place, while La Guardia in 77th and JFK was on the previous post at 101. Grand Forks’ North Dakota University station is in 76th but the airport was 134th. Washington, DC’s Reagan is 51st, with Dulles yet to be revealed. Just goes to show how much difference a few miles can make. That is the beauty, and the beast, of the system.

In the final update, the top 50 will be shown. Who is #1? It’s not Syracuse, NY…or Flagstaff, AZ.