Each year the city of Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse compete for the coveted "golden snowball award". It is the dubious honor awarded to the city measuring the most snow over a winter season. This year the race is close and when you look at the numbers it appears nobody wants to win. Buffalo has the least amount of snow to date with 5.2", Rochester is in second with 7.2" and Syracuse has proved to be the snowiest city so far with 12.9". Keep in mind all these totals are some 25-35" below normal and it could be one of the lowest snow totals in recorded history. There are many ingredients that go into the seasonal snowfall, but one of the driving forces is the La Nina pattern. La Nina is the cooling of the equatorial water of the Pacific Ocean. That cooling has a direct correlation on our winter season.
