It is a bad time to be a snowman.

As of Feb. 12, this is the least amount of total snow to fall in Oswego in 92 years of recorded history, Jon Hitchcock, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Buffalo, said. 

Since Nov. 1, only 26.8 inches of snow has fallen in Oswego, Scott Steiger, a meteorology professor at SUNY Oswego, said in an email. 

“This is way below normal,” Steiger said. “We should have over 100 inches by now!”

Temperatures this week were significantly above average, close to daily records, Hitchcock said. In Oswego, normal high temperatures for this time of year are in the low to mid-30s. 

The weather pattern across North America this year is to blame for the warm weather and lack of snow, Hitchcock said. 

“Most of the time, it’s not cold across the entire country,” Hitchcock said. “So, if it’s cold in the West, the vast majority of the time, it’s going to be warm in the East. And that’s just been the very persistent pattern we’ve had most of the winter.”

Hitchcock said it is “unusual” for the weather pattern to last this long.

Timothy Rice, the Oswego Department of Public Works commissioner, said the lack of snow has been great for the city.

A lack of plowing means less wear and tear on the equipment, such as plow trucks, Rice said. The trucks have still been out in the city a significant amount, salting and pretreating the roads, but that is less harsh on the equipment compared to plowing. 

Additionally, the department usually hauls snow out of the downtown area and to alternate locations after a storm, a job it has not had to do much this year, Rice said. 

Despite the lack of snow, the city is using an average amount of salt, Rice said. However, the city is saving money on fuel and overtime due to the scarcity of significant storms. 

Limited snow and warm weather also means the Public Works Department has been able to complete a backlog of projects and “get a jump” on spring ones, Rice said. This includes fixing pipes and roads, cutting down trees and removing stumps throughout Oswego. 

Chris Waldron, the Parks and Recreation director in Fulton, said they are experiencing some of the same benefits as Oswego.

Fulton is saving money due to fewer overtime hours and less salt use, Waldron said. The department has also been able to begin spring clean-up projects earlier than usual.

However, the lack of snow has affected Fulton’s annual snowman-building contest. 

“Obviously, we can’t build snowmen without snow,” Waldron said. Instead of real snowmen, Fulton will host a snowman arts and crafts contest. The creations will be posted online and voted on, similar to the original contest. 

Waldron said that the snowman-building contest brings a lot of “positive interactions between community members and families” and that the city did not “want to lose out of that.”

“We still want to be able to do something … even though there’s no snow,” Waldron said.

On SUNY Oswego’s campus, the annual Rail Jam event held by the Ski and Snowboard club on Feb. 17 is changing due to the snow shortage. According to the SUNY Oswego website, “organizers are working on getting the snow needed for the event, as they have some other years, thanks to the grounds crew of the university’s Facilities Services operation.”

Rail Jam’s location will also “move slightly from the academic quad to the lawn south of Marano Campus Center, which includes a natural slope.”

As for the rest of this winter, Hitchcock said there is still an opportunity for the weather to get “colder and snowier…although the time window is obviously closing.”

“Historically, we can get some pretty big snowstorms in March,” Hitchcock said. “There’s still a good month and a half left of time to start to catch up on snow totals.”

Photo by: Hannah Pinnock