The Golden Snowball is a contest based on which Upstate New York city receives the most snow between Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton and Albany.

Syracuse may average the most snow with 127.8" per season, but you wouldn’t know that judging off of this winter alone. If the Golden Snowball race were to end now, Buffalo would be crowned champion for the second year in a row.

So far this season, Syracuse has picked up a measly 27.7" of snow. The average amount by Jan. 29 is 73.5", so Syracuse is running about three-and-a-half feet below average.

Four of the five Upstate New York cities involved in the competition are all running below average in terms of snowfall so far this season. Rochester is dead last, with only 17.0" of snow as of Sunday, and their average by now is 57.0".

Albany is in fourth place with 23.2", followed by Syracuse with 26.9". Binghamton is in second place, but not by much, with only 35.3" thus far.

Meanwhile, Buffalo has picked up over three times the amount of snow that Binghamton has seen with 115.3". Two blockbuster snow events will do that, though.

Buffalo won last season, too, with 97.4" of snow, while Rochester was the runner-up with 87.0".

It's been a few years since Syracuse has gotten the bragging rights of being the Golden Snowball Champion. That was back during the 2017-2018 season when Syracuse picked up 153.6" of snow.

That wasn’t even the snowiest winter on record for Cuse. For that, you have to go back to 1992-1993 where 192.1" of snow fell.

There’s a lot of winter left, and with wide open lakes, some more lake-effect is definitely fair game. Will anyone catch up and surpass Buffalo, though? That’s looking more and more unlikely.

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