SYRACUSE (AP) -- For the ninth year in a row, Syracuse looks like a shoo-in for this year's Golden Snowball, an annual award presented to the snowiest big city in upstate New York.
Patrick DeCoursey, who has kept score on his blog since 2003, tells the Syracuse Post-Standard the city holds a 56-inch lead over Rochester, with 174 inches. The contest ends May 1.
Buffalo has the record for the all-time greatest snowfall, with 199.4 inches - nearly 17 feet - in 1976-77. But it trails with 101.4 inches so far this winter, placing it behind Syracuse, Rochester (119.4) and Binghamton (105.3) and ahead of only Albany (84.1).
The Golden Snowball, which began as a friendly competition between National Weather Service offices upstate, compares airport snowfall at upstate New York's five biggest cities.
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