snowiest city

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Still Working the Phones of NOAA

Posted by Patrick on May 11, 2010
Posted in: All US Snow Cities, Colorado Snow Info. Tagged: , , , .

The snow stats have been updated as of April 30th! Read below about calling it a wrap!

I’m still trying to make sure we call this contest right and have had a couple of conversations with some people from Noaa at a couple different weather stations.  From what I gathered is that if the city isn’t coming up with snow stats on NOAA the chances are there isn’t a weather station for that city and whatever comes in is probably from snow spotters.  I’ve said it sever time how much I respect what snow spotters do and the time they put into it but we are going to go with cities that have NOAA weather stations.

I talked with Chad Gimmestad from the Colorado NOAA station and got some really good input from him.  Thanks Chad for taking the time :)   I’ve come up with a date that should be safe enough to call the contest or hopefully safe enough to anyways.  We wanted to go with May 1st which is when we call the smaller snow contest at goldensnoball.com but seeing how the national snow contest involves many more cities we have decided to extend it just a little longer.  Colorado and a couple of other states are pretty much the last to receive snowfall so we decided to base it on that.  Snow is in the forecast for some of the Colorado cities depending on the temps for the next day or two and it could turn out to be a significant snow event.  With that said, the date is picked and it is soon so stay tuned is all I can say while I keep working the phones to make sure we get it right.  Of course there is always a chance we don’t and look like the normal fools we really are trying to have a fun contest.

Cheers and Have a great week all.

Syracuse is Looking Like The National Snow Champ Butttt

Posted by Patrick on May 1, 2010
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , , .

I still need to get some stats for a few cities that have me concerned. Mainly some of the Colorado cities not listed here because I haven’t been able to find snow stats on them plus a couple of others. In other words I’m being a sissy man in calling Syracuse the winner just yet. I will get a hold of everyone I need to and make an announcement next week. Yeah I know I’m a wimp but I would rather get it right for the first annual national snow contest for cities with a population of 100,000 or more. Just a bit longer.

Cheers, Patrick

2009-10 Golden SnowDown: 1-50

Posted by GSG Fantasy Snowfall on April 27, 2010
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , .

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!

2009-10 Golden SnowDown: 51-100

Posted by GSG Fantasy Snowfall on April 25, 2010
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , .

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.

2009-10 Golden SnowDown: 101-150

Posted by GSG Fantasy Snowfall on April 23, 2010
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , .

Continuing the trek toward the snowiest National Weather Service reporting station, here are the next 50 cities on the list.

Rankings 101-150
Rank Location City Population Season Snowfall
101 New York (JFK), NY 8,008,278 41.3
102 Topeka, KS 122,377 40.7
102 Minneapolis, MN 382,618 40.7
104 Rapid City (Downtown), SD 59,607 40.1
105 Huntington, WV 51,475 40.0
105 Dayton, OH 166,179 40.0
107 La Crosse, WI 51,818 39.8
108 Dalhart, TX 7,237 39.7
109 Barrow, AK 4,581 39.3
110 Asheville, NC 68,889 39.2
111 Toledo, OH 313,619 39.1
112 Kalispell, MT 14,223 39.0
113 St. Joseph, MO 73,990 38.7
114 Cincinnati, OH 331,285 38.4
115 Bridgeport, CT 139,529 38.1
116 Milwaukee, WI 596,974 38.0
117 McGrath, AK 401 37.8
117 Aberdeen, SD 24,658 37.8
119 Rapid City (Airport), SD 59,607 37.7
120 Havre, MT 9,621 37.3
121 Eau Claire, WI 61,704 37.1
121 Portland, ME 64,249 37.1
123 Boston, MA 589,141 35.7
124 Kotzebue, AK 3,082 35.2
125 Goodland, KS 4,948 35.1
126 Williamsport, PA 30,706 34.9
127 Lynchburg, VA 65,269 34.8
128 Concordia, KS 5,714 34.7
129 Iowa City, IA 62,220 34.4
130 Reno, NV 180,480 34.3
131 Bethel, AK 5,471 34.2
132 Salt Lake City, UT 181,743 33.8
133 Indianapolis, IN 781,870 33.0
134 Grand Forks (Airport), ND 49,321 32.1
135 Providence, RI 173,168 31.5
135 Colorado Springs, CO 360,890 31.5
137 Clayton, NM 2,524 31.2
138 Williston, ND 12,512 30.9
139 St. Cloud, MN 59,107 30.8
140 Houghton, MI 7,010 30.7
141 Hartford, CT 121,578 30.6
142 Alamosa, CO 7,960 30.0
143 Glasgow, MT 3,253 29.7
144 Guymon, OK 10,472 29.6
145 Wausu, WI 38,426 29.5
146 Fort Wayne, IN 205,727 29.3
147 Amarillo, TX 173,627 28.9
148 Pueblo, CO 102,121 28.8
149 Pocatello, ID 51,466 28.3
150 Richmond, VA 197,790 28.0

Once again, the surprises to me are the cities in Alaska and Colorado being so low. Other than that, this table of 50 cities has more northern representation than the previous two posts, which was bound to happen at some point.

The next update will showcase the cities in the 51-100 range. At least one of them is a Golden Snowball city.

Have a great weekend everyone!

2009-10 Golden SnowDown: 151-200

Posted by GSG Fantasy Snowfall on April 21, 2010
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , .

Continuing the look at snowfall throughout the United States, here are the next 50 cities in the list.

Rankings 151-200
Rank Location City Population Season Snowfall
151 Wallops Island, VA 434 27.9
152 Harrison, AR 12,152 27.2
153 Blountville, TN 2,959 26.7
154 Helena, MT 25,780 26.1
155 Grand Junction, CO 41,986 25.3
156 Fairbanks, AK 30,224 24.8
157 Springfield, IL 111,454 23.7
157 Lexington, KY 260,512 23.7
159 Lincoln, IL 15,369 23.5
160 Oklahoma City, OK 506,132 23.2
161 Winnemucca, NV 7,174 22.9
162 Tulsa, OK 393,049 22.8
163 Louisville, KY 256,231 21.3
164 Columbia, MO 84,531 20.7
165 Springfield, MO 151,580 20.1
166 Boise, ID 185,787 19.9
167 Dodge City, KS 25,176 19.7
168 Valentine, NE 2,820 18.6
169 Fort Smith, AR 80,268 18.5
170 Roswell, NM 45,293 18.4
171 Burlington, IA 26,839 18.0
172 Dallas, TX 1,118,580 17.1
173 Joplin, MO 45,504 17.0
173 Missoula, MT 57,053 17.0
175 Borger, TX 14,302 16.6
175 Wichita Falls, TX 101,202 16.6
175 Greensboro, NC 223,891 16.6
178 Bowling Green, KY 49,296 15.4
179 Yakima, WA 71,845 15.3
180 Evansville, IN 121,582 15.3
181 Wichita, KS 344,284 15.1
182 St. Louis, MO 348,189 14.5
183 Spokane (Airport), WA 195,629 14.3
183 Lubbock, TX 199,564 14.3
185 Spokane (Downtown), WA 195,629 14.0
186 Danville, VA 48,411 13.4
187 Jonesboro, AR 55,515 13.3
188 Jackson, TN 59,643 12.0
188 Abilene, TX 115,930 12.0
190 Paducah, KY 26,307 10.3
191 Chattanooga, TN 155,554 10.0
192 Childress, TX 6,778 9.6
193 Norfolk, VA 234,403 9.3
194 Columbia, SC 116,278 8.9
194 El Paso, TX 563,662 8.9
196 Little Rock, AR 183,133 8.7
196 Memphis (Downtown), TN 650,100 8.7
198 Augusta, GA 195,182 8.0
198 Raleigh, NC 726,093 8.0
200 Tyler, TX 83,650 7.9

I did not expect cities in Colorado or Montana to be this far down on the list, and yet, here they are at 154, 155 and 173. There is another Alaska city fairly down the rankings as well, Fairbanks in 156. Other than that, this seems to be as expected, most of the cities in this ranking area are in the southern portion of the country.

The next SnowDown update will feature rankings 101-150. More northern cities will be shown, including one from New York State.

Golden SnowCast Forecast 20 Results

Posted by GSG Fantasy Snowfall on April 19, 2010
Posted in: The Golden SnowCast. Tagged: , , , , , , .

In the New York State prediction, I believed that all of the Golden Snowball cities would have below average high temperatures on either Saturday or Sunday. The table below shows the National Weather Service’s high temperature data for both days.

New York State High Temperatures
City Saturday Average/Recorded Sunday Average/Recorded
GSB Cities with below average temperatures: 5
Albany 58/49 58/53
Binghamton 54/50 54/49
Buffalo 55/43 55/53
Rochester 56/46 56/56
Syracuse 56/49 57/55

All five were below average on Saturday, so the forecast is correct. Rochester was the only one to not be below average on both days, hitting average exactly on Sunday. Most cities were warmer on Sunday than Saturday, only Binghamton had cooler Sunday high temperatures than Saturday’s.

In the World forecast, I believed that a majority of the southern New England reporting stations would total a half an inch of rain or more from Friday through Sunday. The table below shows the daily precipitation amounts for each city, as reported by the National Weather Service.

Southern New England Rainfall
City Friday Saturday Sunday
Cities with 0.5 inches or more total: 3
Boston, MA 0.39 0.15 0.08
Bridgeport, CT 0.25 0.11 None
Hartford, CT 0.47 0.02 Trace
Providence, RI 0.41 0.11 Trace
Worcester, MA 0.36 0.21 Trace

Boston, Providence and Worcester total over 0.5, so the forecast is correct. Both Connecticut cities were under the mark. All of the cities had the majority of the rainfall on Friday and Boston was the only city to get measurable precipitation on Sunday.

Golden SnowCast Results
Region Record Percentage
Overall 36-4 90%
NYS 18-2 90%
World 18-2 90%

It took all 20, but the 90% mark has been met! Both the NYS and World forecasts finished 18-2, and the worst forecast of the season was snowfall for Pennsylvania back in forecast 4. Only one forecast batch went 0-2, which also happens to be forecast 4. The other 2 misses were forecast 1′s NYS outlook and forecast 14′s World prediction. I’m looking forward to next season, as there are some changes on the way.

Have a great week everyone!

2009-10 Golden SnowDown: 201-252

Posted by GSG Fantasy Snowfall on April 17, 2010
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , .

Without further delay, here is the bottom 52 of the 2009-10 Golden SnowDown:

Rankings 201-252
Rank Location City Population Season Snowfall
201 Midland, TX 94,996 7.7
202 Annette, AK 1,584 7.6
203 Longview, TX 73,344 7.2
204 Nashville, TN 545,524 7.1
205 Memphis (Airport), TN 650,100 6.8
206 Pendleton, OR 16,354 6.7
207 Greenville, NC 60,476 6.1
207 Knoxville, TN 173,890 6.1
209 Texarkana, AR 26,448 6.0
210 Charlotte, NC 540,828 5.9
211 Shreveport, LA 200,145 5.8
212 San Angelo, TX 88,439 5.7
213 Atlanta, GA 416,474 5.3
214 Athens, GA 100,266 5.0
215 Muscle Shoals, AL 11,924 4.8
216 Medicine Lodge, KS 2,193 4.5
217 Albuquerque, NM 448,607 4.2
218 El Dorado, AR 21,530 4.1
219 Wilmington, NC 75,838 3.8
220 Waco, TX 113,726 3.7
221 Montgomery, AL 201,568 3.5
222 Charleston, SC 96,650 3.4
223 Alexandria, LA 46,342 3.2
223 College Station, TX 67,890 3.2
223 Huntsville, AL 158,216 3.2
226 Monroe, LA 53,107 3.1
227 New Bern, NC 23,128 3.0
227 Macon, GA 97,255 3.0
229 Lewiston, ID 30,904 2.6
230 Lufkin, TX 32,709 2.5
231 Cedar Rapids, IA 120,758 2.5
232 DeQueen, AR 5,948 2.3
233 Columbus, GA 185,781 2.0
233 Baton Rouge, LA 227,818 2.0
235 Anniston, AL 24,276 1.9
236 Birmingham, AL 242,820 1.7
237 Campo, CA 3,251 1.0
237 Tuscaloosa, AL 77,906 1.0
237 Houston, TX 1,953,631 1.0
240 Pine Bluff, AR 55,085 0.9
240 Savannah, GA 131,510 0.9
242 Cape Hatteras, NC 1,613 0.7
242 Tupelo, MS 34,211 0.7
242 Lafayette, LA 110,257 0.7
245 Austin (Mabry), TX 656,562 0.6
246 Medford, OR 63,154 0.5
247 Mobile, AL 198,915 0.3
247 Austin (Airport), TX 656,562 0.3
249 Victoria, TX 60,603 0.2
249 Lake Charles, LA 71,757 0.2
249 San Antonio, TX 1,144,646 0.2
252 New Orleans, LA 484,674 0.1

There are a few surprises to this list. First off, only one official reporting station in California reported measurable snowfall for the season (as of early April): Campo with 1 inch. I know some parts of California can get a lot of snowfall, but apparently none of them are official measurements. Second, I did not expect to see any Alaska cities to be in the 100s, let alone the 200s. However, Annette is there, ranked 202.

Congrats to New Orleans on being the city with the least measurable snowfall for the season!

Next SnowDown update will feature cities ranked 151-200. Colorado is known for snow, and yet, one of their cities fell in that range, as well as another Alaskan city.

Golden SnowCast Forecast 20

Posted by GSG Fantasy Snowfall on April 15, 2010
Posted in: The Golden SnowCast. Tagged: , , , , , , .

It’s the last Golden SnowCast Forecast for the 2009-10 season. To start things off, as always, is the New York State prediction. This involves a look at high temperatures for the weekend.

All of the Golden Snowball cities will have high temperatures below average on either Saturday or Sunday.

After record breaking heat to start the month, temperatures look to be relatively cool this weekend for Upstate New York. For the forecast to be correct, on either Saturday or Sunday, all five GSB cities must have high temperatures below average highs.

For the World forecast, it’s a look at rainfall in the southern New England states.

A majority of the reporting stations in southern New England will total a half an inch of rain or more from Friday to Sunday.

Five reporting stations that will be used for verifying the forecast: Bridgeport and Hartford, CT, Boston and Worcester, MA, and Providence, RI. If rainfall totals are a half an inch or more in at least 3 of those cities, the forecast will be correct.

Enjoy the rest of the week everyone!

2009-10 Golden SnowDown: An Introduction

Posted by GSG Fantasy Snowfall on April 14, 2010
Posted in: All US Snow Cities. Tagged: , , , .

With the comments on the All Snowiest Cities page about Flagstaff, AZ (among others), I thought it would be worthwhile to take a look at how the smaller cities stack up to the cities with a population of 100,000 or more. Before I begin revealing the results, here is some background on the criteria I have set.

First, all snowfall stats are from the National Weather Service. If a city does not have NWS stats, I did not include them on the list. Second, to make the list, a city must have measurable snowfall shown. That is anything 0.1 or more for the season. If a city has missing data, trace amounts, or no snowfall, they were not included in the list. Third, population does not matter. If a site meets the first two criteria, it’s going to be listed, whether it has a population of 100 or 100,000 or 100,000,000. Population data is taken for the city listed on the NWS site. If it is a multiple city area (such as Scranton/Wilkes Barre), the first name listed counts. This is just for quick statistics purposes and has no barring on the results. Finally, a city that has multiple reporting stations will have all sites included. For example, I consider New York City to have 3 sites: Central Park, JFK and La Guardia airports. All three will count separately as New York (Central Park), New York (JFK) and New York (La Guardia) with population data for New York City.

All snowfall statistics were taken the first week of April. With over 250 cities making the list, and having my course work start up again soon, I would rather not go through all cities another round, especially since most of the cities have not seen substantial snowfall since the start of the month.

In the next few days, I will begin revealing the results of the 2009-10 Golden SnowDown. I couldn’t come up with a better name, it’s a snowfall showdown, so put it together and that’s what you get. If you have a better name for it, then you’re just more creative than I am. :)