Golden Snowball no longer on ice: Snowfall trophy goes from Binghamton to Buffalo
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Binghamton has finally given up its well-earned prize: the Golden Snowball is back in Buffalo.
The coveted trophy — presented to the upstate New York city which totals the most snowfall during the previous winter season — was handed over Friday by 2020-21 champ Binghamton to the 2021-22 winner, the City of Buffalo.
Dr. Stephen Vermette, a Buffalo State geography professor and meteorologist, picked up the hardware at Binghamton City Hall, according to Deputy Mayor Megan J. Heiman, executive assistant to Mayor Jared M. Kraham.
The transfer came more than two months after Buffalo was declared the contest winner.
While the Queen City's 97.4 inches of snow easily stormed past rivals Rochester, Binghamton, Syracuse and Albany to take this year's crown, actually getting their hands on the trophy proved more difficult.
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The Buffalo News reported Mayor Byron Brown's lack of interest in the award, and how Vermette's efforts to claim the prize and display it at Buffalo State or the Buffalo Museum of Science were stymied for several weeks.
Vermette said he reached out to Kraham's office in early June, but he wasn't able to secure the transfer at that time.
He then made other inquiries, including contacting the New York State Conference of Mayors. He learned NYCOM had facilitated the award's transfer once previously — from Syracuse to Binghamton — but otherwise was not involved with the award.
Vermette, a member of the Western New York chapter of the American Meteorological Society, knew he was also battling history. Buffalo didn't pick up the award the last time it was the snowiest city, in 2018-19.
Vermette didn't give up, arguing that the award is given in fun and that Buffalo should acknowledge and celebrate its snowy reputation.
Even with a breakthrough apparently occurring in recent days and Vermette making preparations to make the 200-mile drive to Binghamton, he was determined not to jinx the effort.
"As they say 'I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch,'" he said in an email to the Press and Sun-Bulletin.
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Binghamton finishes in third place with 82 inches of snow
The final official snow totals for 2021-22 show Rochester finishing in second place with 87 inches of the white stuff. Binghamton placed third with a total snowfall of 82 inches. Syracuse and Albany finished well out of the picture, with 76 and 36 inches respectively.
Despite its inability to successfully defend the snow title, Binghamton's whopping 105 inches in 2020-21 remains a point of pride and positions the city as one of the top favorites for the 2022-23 Golden Snowball.
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This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Binghamton turns over Golden Snowball trophy to Buffalo
