The Golden Snowball Award is an annual award presented to the city in Upstate New York that receives the most snowfall in a season. The original award was the result of a friendly competition between National Weather Service offices in Upstate New York.
Originally conceived after the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977, the competition died out after the Rochester and Syracuse offices closed in the mid-1990s. However, the award was revived during the 2002–2003 snowfall season when Patrick DeCoursey started up a website to inform people about the past competition. Syracuse won the 2002-2003 season and they won every year from then through the 2010–2011 season as well. In the 2011–2012 season, Rochester was the first city other than Syracuse to win since the award's revival. They also received temporary possession of a trophy for the year. The original competition's trophy has been lost, prompting its replacement with a new one donated by a trophy shop in Syracuse. The current Golden Snowball trophy resides in the Geosciences Department at Buffalo State University.[1][2]
Compared to Syracuse's average snowfall of 127.8 inches, or over 10 feet per year, New York City's annual snow average is a relatively small 2–3 feet per year in the city and about 3–4 feet per year in nearby suburbs. This is due to a number of factors, including lower latitude and oceanic influence keeping much of the precipitation as rain in the winter, combined with distance from the Great Lakes keeping the city well away from the influence of lake-effect snow. For the first time ever, during the 2005–2006 winter season New York City did have more snowfall than Albany, mainly due to the Blizzard of 2006, which was the city's biggest snowfall to date, while Albany was on the extreme northern fringe.
Note: Official National Weather Service snowfall statistics were not kept at the current locations for Binghamton and Syracuse until the 1951–52 season.
^Vermette, Stephen (26 August 2022). "Golden Snowball Trophy on Campus". Buffalo State University. Retrieved 15 January 2024. The Buffalo State Geography and Planning Department is hosting the trophy on behalf of the City of Buffalo.
^Watson, Stephen (14 September 2023). "Snow contest: Buffalo lapping the field in Golden Snowball, Snow Globe rankings this winter". Buffalo News. Retrieved 15 January 2024. This is welcome news to Stephen Vermette, who teaches meteorology and climatology at SUNY Buffalo State University and is the keeper of the Golden Snowball trophy here..
^"Unwanted trophy: Buffalo won Golden Snowball but has not claimed it". 10 January 2020.
"Forecasters suggest resurrection of New York's snowfall competition". USA Today. January 16, 2003.
Golden Snowball is symbol of upstate winters. So where is it? by Sean Kirst for The Buffalo News; December 15, 2016.
External linksedit
The Golden Snowball Award
March 14, 2024
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Golden Snowball Award news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2024 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Golden Snowball Award is an annual award presented to the city in Upstate New York that receives the most snowfall in a season The original award was the result of a friendly competition between National Weather Service offices in Upstate New York Golden Snowball AwardAwarded formost snowfall in a seasonCurrently held byBuffalo New YorkMost awardsSyracuse New York 14 Websitegoldensnowball wbr comOriginally conceived after the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977 the competition died out after the Rochester and Syracuse offices closed in the mid 1990s However the award was revived during the 2002 2003 snowfall season when Patrick DeCoursey started up a website to inform people about the past competition Syracuse won the 2002 2003 season and they won every year from then through the 2010 2011 season as well In the 2011 2012 season Rochester was the first city other than Syracuse to win since the award s revival They also received temporary possession of a trophy for the year The original competition s trophy has been lost prompting its replacement with a new one donated by a trophy shop in Syracuse The current Golden Snowball trophy resides in the Geosciences Department at Buffalo State University 1 2 Compared to Syracuse s average snowfall of 127 8 inches or over 10 feet per year New York City s annual snow average is a relatively small 2 3 feet per year in the city and about 3 4 feet per year in nearby suburbs This is due to a number of factors including lower latitude and oceanic influence keeping much of the precipitation as rain in the winter combined with distance from the Great Lakes keeping the city well away from the influence of lake effect snow For the first time ever during the 2005 2006 winter season New York City did have more snowfall than Albany mainly due to the Blizzard of 2006 which was the city s biggest snowfall to date while Albany was on the extreme northern fringe The cities that compete for the award are Albany Binghamton Buffalo Rochester SyracuseUntil the 2006 2007 season several smaller cities also competed for a smaller award that includes a 50 check These are Fulton Oswego Utica WatertownContents 1 Winners of the Golden Snowball 2 Snowfall by season 3 Max min and average snowfall by city 3 1 Albany 3 2 Binghamton 3 3 Buffalo 3 4 Rochester 3 5 Syracuse 4 References 5 External linksWinners of the Golden Snowball edit2002 2003 Syracuse 2003 2004 Syracuse 2004 2005 Syracuse 2005 2006 Syracuse 2006 2007 Syracuse 2007 2008 Syracuse 2008 2009 Syracuse 2009 2010 Syracuse 2010 2011 Syracuse 2011 2012 Rochester 2012 2013 Syracuse 2013 2014 Syracuse 2014 2015 Syracuse 2015 2016 Syracuse 2016 2017 Binghamton 2017 2018 Syracuse 2018 2019 Buffalo Mayor Refused Award 3 2019 2020 Rochester 2020 2021 Binghamton 2021 2022 Buffalo 2022 2023 BuffaloSnowfall by season editNote Official National Weather Service snowfall statistics were not kept at the current locations for Binghamton and Syracuse until the 1951 52 season All measurements are in inches Season Albany Binghamton Buffalo Rochester Syracuse City With Most Snow1940 41 51 7 79 3 73 7 Buffalo1941 42 45 2 89 6 66 3 Buffalo1942 43 45 0 85 5 70 6 Buffalo1943 44 48 6 58 0 46 1 Buffalo1944 45 66 8 120 7 94 7 Buffalo1945 46 54 9 110 5 49 5 Buffalo1946 47 43 1 65 4 75 5 Rochester1947 48 90 0 42 1 63 4 Albany1948 49 44 2 40 1 50 9 Rochester1949 50 62 6 88 7 81 7 BuffaloSeason Albany Binghamton Buffalo Rochester Syracuse City With Most Snow1950 51 48 3 71 4 75 8 Rochester1951 52 69 4 72 2 83 0 75 8 100 5 Syracuse1952 53 46 0 70 4 55 9 41 7 79 4 Syracuse1953 54 48 4 65 1 89 9 77 5 91 3 Syracuse1954 55 36 6 94 8 84 8 69 2 101 4 Syracuse1955 56 80 2 122 6 105 2 121 4 146 8 Syracuse1956 57 70 3 90 2 113 7 79 2 76 1 Buffalo1957 58 74 4 111 0 124 7 130 8 143 8 Syracuse1958 59 63 2 78 7 114 5 140 6 137 2 Rochester1959 60 60 1 105 3 115 6 161 7 134 8 RochesterSeason Albany Binghamton Buffalo Rochester Syracuse City With Most Snow1960 61 72 7 99 7 102 4 89 4 130 5 Syracuse1961 62 62 6 65 6 101 4 65 6 77 3 Buffalo1962 63 71 3 95 3 89 8 76 4 118 3 Syracuse1963 64 77 0 103 3 71 5 92 0 83 8 Binghamton1964 65 45 8 76 4 70 9 71 1 97 3 Syracuse1965 66 67 1 83 7 98 3 103 2 118 8 Syracuse1966 67 80 9 88 5 66 1 74 0 87 5 Binghamton1967 68 42 2 63 6 71 6 76 7 81 2 Syracuse1968 69 63 3 64 5 78 4 79 8 99 7 Syracuse1969 70 87 7 115 8 120 5 119 6 127 6 SyracuseSeason Albany Binghamton Buffalo Rochester Syracuse City With Most Snow1970 71 112 5 108 6 97 0 142 7 157 2 Syracuse1971 72 89 3 106 2 109 9 105 1 133 7 Syracuse1972 73 70 9 67 7 78 8 73 0 82 2 Syracuse1973 74 58 3 86 7 88 7 99 1 123 2 Syracuse1974 75 54 6 67 1 95 6 91 2 105 5 Syracuse1975 76 54 2 76 3 82 5 86 2 95 8 Syracuse1976 77 70 6 74 4 199 4 92 1 145 0 Buffalo1977 78 92 4 115 3 154 3 160 9 161 2 Syracuse1978 79 63 5 80 0 97 3 138 5 118 5 Rochester1979 80 27 4 56 8 68 4 72 2 93 4 SyracuseSeason Albany Binghamton Buffalo Rochester Syracuse City With Most Snow1980 81 44 9 59 3 60 9 94 4 79 0 Rochester1981 82 97 1 81 6 112 4 128 4 137 3 Syracuse1982 83 75 0 81 0 52 4 59 9 66 0 Binghamton1983 84 65 2 70 9 132 5 118 0 113 6 Buffalo1984 85 41 3 62 5 107 2 87 1 116 4 Syracuse1985 86 62 5 76 3 114 7 70 7 105 3 Buffalo1986 87 80 6 78 8 67 5 67 1 103 4 Syracuse1987 88 76 7 81 6 56 4 69 8 113 2 Syracuse1988 89 19 0 47 8 67 4 86 6 97 8 Syracuse1989 90 57 9 74 8 93 7 105 8 153 0 SyracuseSeason Albany Binghamton Buffalo Rochester Syracuse City With Most Snow1990 91 28 7 67 0 57 5 68 3 96 9 Syracuse1991 92 30 7 56 0 92 8 110 6 167 0 Syracuse1992 93 94 2 122 7 93 2 131 5 192 1 Syracuse1993 94 88 1 131 3 112 7 126 2 163 8 Syracuse1994 95 30 9 52 8 74 6 56 2 66 9 Buffalo1995 96 86 5 134 0 141 4 130 3 170 9 Syracuse1996 97 66 6 93 0 97 6 104 7 131 1 Syracuse1997 98 52 3 92 0 75 6 99 7 134 7 Syracuse1998 99 44 1 73 3 100 5 111 6 98 3 Rochester1999 00 62 1 82 4 63 6 110 7 85 8 RochesterSeason Albany Binghamton Buffalo Rochester Syracuse City With Most Snow2000 01 77 1 112 6 158 7 133 0 191 9 Syracuse2001 02 47 4 63 5 132 4 58 1 59 4 Buffalo2002 03 105 4 117 6 111 3 135 2 153 2 Syracuse2003 04 65 1 106 4 100 9 125 6 181 3 Syracuse2004 05 75 9 106 5 109 1 113 6 136 2 Syracuse2005 06 30 2 74 9 78 2 73 9 124 6 Syracuse2006 07 45 9 78 6 88 9 107 2 140 2 Syracuse2007 08 61 1 70 7 103 8 106 0 109 1 Syracuse2008 09 52 6 73 3 100 2 103 7 149 6 Syracuse2009 10 45 4 81 4 74 1 90 2 106 3 SyracuseSeason Albany Binghamton Buffalo Rochester Syracuse City With Most Snow2010 11 87 2 117 5 111 8 127 0 179 0 Syracuse2011 12 23 3 43 5 36 7 59 9 50 6 Rochester2012 13 51 4 69 1 58 8 78 1 115 4 Syracuse2013 14 73 5 85 4 129 9 112 7 132 0 Syracuse2014 15 75 9 93 4 112 9 101 9 119 7 Syracuse2015 16 16 9 32 0 55 1 63 7 80 3 Syracuse2016 17 60 8 135 2 76 1 107 1 134 9 Binghamton2017 18 77 3 90 6 112 3 120 5 153 6 Syracuse2018 19 55 4 81 4 118 8 97 1 115 0 Buffalo2019 20 49 7 79 1 69 2 91 8 87 6 Rochester2020 21 54 6 105 0 77 2 69 6 73 3 Binghamton2021 22 36 4 81 8 97 4 87 0 76 0 Buffalo2022 23 55 0 61 5 133 6 50 4 65 6 BuffaloSnowiest Season for all Golden Snowball Cities Buffalo 199 4 inches 1976 77 Least Snowiest Season for all Golden Snowball Cities Albany 13 8 inches 1912 13 Max min and average snowfall by city editAlbany edit Max 112 5 inches 1970 71 Min 13 8 inches 1912 13 Average 59 2 inches Binghamton edit Max 135 2 inches 2016 17 Min 32 0 inches 2015 16 Average 86 5 inches Buffalo edit Max 199 4 inches 1976 77 note 1 Min 36 7 inches 2011 12 Average 95 4 inches Rochester edit Max 161 7 inches 1959 60 Min 41 7 inches 1952 53 Average 102 0 inches Syracuse edit Max 192 1 inches 1992 93 Min 50 6 inches 2011 12 Average 127 8 inchesReferences edit This is due to the Blizzard of 77 Vermette Stephen 26 August 2022 Golden Snowball Trophy on Campus Buffalo State University Retrieved 15 January 2024 The Buffalo State Geography and Planning Department is hosting the trophy on behalf of the City of Buffalo Watson Stephen 14 September 2023 Snow contest Buffalo lapping the field in Golden Snowball Snow Globe rankings this winter Buffalo News Retrieved 15 January 2024 This is welcome news to Stephen Vermette who teaches meteorology and climatology at SUNY Buffalo State University and is the keeper of the Golden Snowball trophy here Unwanted trophy Buffalo won Golden Snowball but has not claimed it 10 January 2020 Forecasters suggest resurrection of New York s snowfall competition USA Today January 16 2003 A fierce snowball competition Video The Weather Channel Abrams amp Bettes Retrieved 2007 02 23 dead link Golden Snowball is symbol of upstate winters So where is it by Sean Kirst for The Buffalo News December 15 2016 External links editThe Golden Snowball Award Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Golden Snowball Award amp oldid 1196293486, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
