Erie has officially received around 80 inches of snow so far this winter season. That's over 30 inches more than any U.S. city our size or larger. I'm intrigued that some people are excited that Erie could win the Golden Snow Globe Contest.

The Golden Snow Globe Contest is an annual competition among the snowiest cities in the U.S. It's about who will get the most snow each winter season. Of course, Mother Nature is the only entity that determines the winner. However, there is a man in Syracuse, New York, Patrick DeCoursey, who operates a web site that updates the snow totals. Apparently it is he who officially declares the winner. Erie is in the lead. However, are citizens really excited about winning this contest?  I will ask a few people visiting the Blasco Library in Erie.

"Sure, I think that it might be a good thing, says one woman.

It doesn't matter to me but I could see how some people could get excited about it,” says another.

John Stehlin, the weather director at Erie News Now, receives many comments about whether the Golden Snow Globe is an award Erie should want.

"It's kind of 50/50 out there,” he says. “Nonetheless I say, ’Go big or go home."

Mr. DeCoursey, the self-proclaimed oracle of the Golden Snow Globe Contest, has said that the competition was created just for fun. However, people take this contest seriously. His web site has comments from people who live in other snowy cities. They say Erie should now be barred from the contest because it no longer has 100,000 people. The 100,000 population has been a long-time stipulation. However, DeCoursey has a soft spot for our city. He has written that Erie, a perennial contender for the title, is grandfathered. That's great because winning proves something important to the world.

"We're tough. It proves how tough we are. We can get through these winters,” says another library visitor.

People in New York State may not care if their city wins. They are probably more excited about another contest. It's called the Golden Snowball Contest. It's been going on for many years and involves five snowy cities in New York. Unlike the Golden Snow Globe Contest, the Golden Snowball has a traveling trophy. A few years ago, the Mayor of Buffalo refused to accept the trophy. He didn't want anything to do with it.  On that note, I want to assure all people who are cheering for Erie this year. If there was a trophy for the Golden Snow Globe Contest, our mayor, Joe Schember, would gladly accept.

"It just seems like a normal thing to do,” he says. “If we get a trophy, let's take it. Let's put it up. We should be proud of it."

The winner of this season's contest will not be officially announced until the end of June although Erie should know how it stands long before that time. The last time Erie was declared the winner was the 2017-2018 season with 198 and a half inches of snow.