Thankful for a mercifully mild winter

As we bid adieu to Ol’ Man Winter and welcome the arrival of spring, let’s reflect on our recent season of snow.

Certainly this one was a mercifully mild winter, but that’s rarely the case hereabouts. In fact, Syracuse is considered the snowiest major city in the United States, in terms of average annual snowfall, according to Weather.com, based on data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climactic Data Center.

Syracuse measured a total snowfall of 76.6 inches over the 2019-20 winter season, according to goldensnowball.com. Those six-feet-plus snow drifts were actually four feet less than our average annual snowfalls of 123 inches. While local snow totals were definitely down, the temperature was up. In Syracuse, the average temperature was nearly four degrees above normal this winter.

The Golden Snowball Award is a contest between five Upstate cities, with the gilded sphere going to the city which records the most snowfall during the winter.

Last year, Buffalo won the Golden Snowball by suffering 114 inches of white stuff. This year, Rochester’s 87.2 inches will take the cake.

Syracuse normally snowiest

Syracuse received an average annual snowfall of more than 120 inches between 1991 and 2010, the most recent 30-year period for which numbers are available. That makes the Salt City No. 1 among U.S. metros with a population of 100,000 or more. There are snowier places in other states including Alaska, but they don’t meet that 100,000 population threshold.

Most of us well-remember Syracuse’s snowiest season ever, the winter of 1992 to 1993, which saw more than 192.1 inches of snowfall, according to Weather.com. The roughest winter in recent memory was 2016-17, in which we dug ourselves out from under 135 inches of snow. Our snowiest single day ever was the day after Valentine’s Day, Feb. 15, 1946, when 34 inches blanketed the area. The second snowiest major city on the list is Erie, which had an average of some 100 inches of snow per year for the same time period.

Limp Lizard deck ready to go

After a long wait and cutting through many yards of red tape, it looks as though the Limp Lizard Barbecue will finally be adding a back deck with seating for 24 customers. Limp Lizard co-owner Scott Schimpff built the nifty wooden deck and looks forward to putting a roof on it sometime in the future. Before the coronavirus closed down bars and restaurants last week, Schimpff was hoping to have the deck open as early as April 1, no joke. But now, who knows?

Village Planning Board Chairman Joe Ostuni Jr. confirmed that the Limp Lizard received approval for its latest site plan that included use of the back deck.

American High update

JoLee Clement, who lives in Liverpool, earned herself a non-speaking role in director Jeremy Garelick’s new movie, “The Binge,” a comedy starring Vince Vaughn. JoLee works as a barmaid at The Retreat.

The film – which is still in post-production – was screened for a selected audience on March 7, at the auditorium at American High’s Syracuse Studios in the old Zogg Building at 800 Fourth St.

BTW, the coronavirus pandemic has forced the postponement of the start of American High’s eighth film to be produced here. It was originally scheduled to start shooting March 16, but no title nor stars have yet been announced.

Meanwhile, “Big Time Adolescence,” starring comedian Pete Davidson and newcomer Griffin Gluck, is now streaming on HULU. A hilarious yet somewhat touching coming-of-age tale, “Adolescence” is impressing audiences and critics alike. Yellow-haired Davidson, the over-the-top “SNL” comic, delivers a performance of surprising depth, while Gluck proves himself a real star-in-the-making. Directed by Jason Orley, the movie includes plenty of scenes shot at 800 Fourth St., plus a gorgeous exterior shot of the Zogg Building, its bricks practically shimmering on a glorious sunny day.

Coronavirus casualties

Person-to-person: No handshakes. No hugs. No exercising at the gym. No camaraderie at the local bar. No church services. No access to the public library.

On TV: No basketball. No hockey. No golf. No baseball. No news besides pandemic.

And no one seems to know how long it’ll last…

Last word

“Even if we cannot gather together in the same space, we are still connected in the One Spirit of Jesus Christ.”

–L’pool First Presbyterian Pastor Garrett Anderson, in an email to his congregation commenting on the coronavirus restriction on public meetings.