Syracuse ISN'T the snowiest city in the world

 

I've been to Syracuse just a couple of times, and only in the summer. So I can't vouch for the winters, but others I met there could.  Syracuse gets snow from systems crossing both Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, so this isn't a big surprise, but given the massive volumes of snow that places like Buffalo can get, I'm surprised that Syracuse is Number One.

Read for more.

The Top 10 Snowiest Cities in the World

Recently, though, Buffalo's huge snow-effect drops have given it a short-term edge.

"With an average annual snowfall of 124 inches, Syracuse is no stranger to snow. Records show that the city occasionally experiences heavy snowfall, with an all-time high of 192 inches in a single season. Statistics like these cement Syracuse’s status as the snowiest metropolitan area in the United States, a claim made possible by a combination of different geological factors: the city’s proximity to Lake Ontario and the regular dumping of snow by nor’easter cyclones.

Known as the economic and educational hub of Central New York, Syracuse is as famous for its weather as for its university’s Division I sports teams. The city consistently wins the Golden Snowball Award, a humorous accolade given to the city in Upstate New York with the most snowfall each season. Syracuse has won the award 14 times but has been beaten out by Buffalo since 2021. Fellow competitors Rochester and Buffalo qualify as the world’s eighth and ninth snowiest cities respectively."

Here's the problem, though.  After reading this article, that quote above in particular, and getting pointed to it by the Daily Mail article (quote: "Travel experts from TripSavvy named Syracuse, New York, the snowiest city in the world this year."

But let's read from the article now.

Sapporo, Japan: average annual snowfall 191 inches.
Chamonix, France: not clear, because the article makes it sound like it's the snowfall in the mountains, not in Chamonix itself.
Quebec City: average annual snowfall 124 inches, same as Syracuse.
St. Johns, Canada: average annual snowfall 131 inches.
Toyama, Japan: average annual snowfall 143 inches.
Erie, Pennsylvania: average annual snowfall 104 inches.
Aomori City, Japan: average annual snowfall 312 inches.
Muskegon, Michigan: average annual snowfall 76 inches (I don't know why they didn't include Houghton, MI).
Valdez, Alaska: average annual snowfall 326 inches.

So Syracuse isn't anywhere close to the snowiest city in the world. Somebody is confused out there, and that's confusing the rest of us.

I tried to find a picture that showed what it's like; there are quite a few (and videos too), many showing the almost-tunnel of the main road created by the snow-throwing trucks.  But I went with this one.

By the way, remember that in many cases, global warming is making heavy winter snowfalls heavier, due to more moisture in the atmosphere (mainly) and various other regional factors, like higher lake and ocean temperatures adjacent to these snow-prone locations. 

Lighthouse of the Week, December 1-7, 2024: Hiyori Yama Lighthouse, Hokkaido, Japan

 

I don't think I've visited Japan for awhile in the ongoing Lighthouse of the Week feature, so I'm back there this week. In the past, I've featured three lighthouses on the northern island of Hokkaido. This one will be the fourth, and I just found one for next week to be the fifth. You'll see why when I get there.

But back to this one.  It's the Hiyori Yama (also spelled Hiyoriyama) lighthouse, and it's officially in Otaru City, but it's not far from the somewhat better known Sapporo.  See where that is using this link.

It's well-located, but it's not notably historical, so the Lighthouse Directory entry is short.

"Date unknown (station established 1883). Active; focal plane 50 m (164 ft); two white flashes every 20 s. 10 m (33 ft) round cylindrical concrete tower with lantern and gallery, rising from a 1-story keeper's house. Entire stucture, including the keeper's house, painted with red and white horizontal bands. ... This lighthouse stands at the end of a sharp promontory that shelters the harbor of Otaru."

Before I provide three picture, this is a link to a great picture of the location on Flickr. I thought about grabbing it and showing it here, but since it's on Flick and owned by a Pro account, I decided using the link was better. If you click the link, you can magnify the picture, but I haven't figured out how to demagnify after you do that.

My other picture finds are below.

Fifteen?

 

The Daily Mail published an article with an intriguing (to say the least) headline.

Revealed: the 15 types of orgasm and how to achieve them, by sexologist JESSICA TOSCANO

To which I immediately thought:  Fifteen?  (As you can see from the title.)

This type of thing deserves further examination. I would also encourage numerous experiments, but I can't tell you what to do.

If you read the list (obviously I encourage doing that, too), you'll see that women are highly advantaged in the different kinds of orgasm section of the sexological lexicon. 

According to this list, I've had three different kinds, and I don't think there's going to be an opportunity for any more. Certainly not cervical. 

But hey -- it's good to have goals.

This is dumb (and bad)

 

After the kangaroo, the animal that most people associate with Australia is the wombat.

NO! It's the platypus.

NO! It's the koala.

Yes! At least I would think so.  There must be a poll somewhere. Even if it's not, the koala is one of Australia's most recognized animals, and it's very cute too.

Oh yeah -- it's endangered.  Because its main source of nutrition is the leaves of eucalyptus trees. They live in forests, of course.

"Thousands of koalas died in devastating bushfires five years ago, and many populations were already in decline after a steady drumbeat of logging, housing developments, dog attacks, car strikes and other threats. In 2022, the federal government declared koalas endangered."

So to help them out, they agreed to create a sanctuary for the koalas.

" “We are committed to creating the Great Koala National Park,” New South Wales Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said in an interview. “It’s a really important part of our plan to save koalas in the wild. I just ask people to be patient for a little bit longer. We’re going to do it right and we’re going to do it well.”

Great idea, right? Yes, but ...

"Although logging has been suspended in roughly 32 square miles identified as “koala hubs” — the most critical koala habitat — that means 95 percent of the state forests under consideration are still open to logging."

That is just dumb. Save the koalas -- and save the forests, too, because that's where they live.

Speaking of blondes

 

Was I speaking of blonde women?  It seems like I was. 

Well, if I was or if I wasn't, blonde (I think) Margot Robbie, who played Barbie (definitely a blonde) in the movie Barbie, celebrated the big success of the movie by seeing her gynecologist, making sure everything was working, then getting together with her husband Tom and proving everything was working by getting pregnant. 

And everything kept on working until she gave birth quite recently, which is how it's supposed to work.

Margot Robbie gives birth! Barbie star, 34, delivers healthy baby boy as husband Tom is pictured stocking up on nappies and booze

I don't think we've seen any pictures of the tot, but here's a picture of Margot with the tot on the walk.

Is this Volaire's most famous painting?

 

Not Voltaire, Volaire. Pierre-Jacques Volaire, a French painter with a penchant for volcanoes.

He painted Vesuvius erupting many times, frequently under moonlight. The painting below is currently on exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It is entitled "The Eruption of Vesuvius, A View of Naples Beyond".  I'm wondering if this is his most famous painting. It probably is right now, considering it's on exhibit at the Met.

However, he moved to Naples in 1769, and two years later, Vesuvius erupted. He painted that eruption -- see below. I'm not sure how quickly he painted it and how soon it went on exhibit (if it did), because if it was done soon after the eruption, people in Europe who heard about the eruption -- and who also perhaps knew their ancient Greek history -- might have wanted to see what the eruption, which should have been in the news, looked like. So maybe the painting below is his most famous work.

Given the recent reports of activity around this location, it might be useful to know what has happened there before. 

Lighthouse of the Week, November 24-30, 2024: Porthcawl Breakwater Lighthouse, Wales, UK

 

This lighthouse isn't particular tall or architecturally outstanding. It's a small one, on a breakwater in Wales, and its exact location is found here. It's fairly near Swansea and a little farther away from Cardiff.

What it does have is waves.  Big, monstrous, foamy, crashing waves.  As you will see.

First, though, you will see the short notes from the Lighthouse Directory.

"1860. Active; focal plane 10 m (34 ft); continuous light, white over the entrance channel and red or green to the sides. 9 m (30 ft) hexagonal cast iron tower with domed lantern, painted white with a black band around the base. ... This is one of the only two surviving cast-iron lighthouses in Wales. Long powered by gas, the little lighthouse was not converted to electric power until 1997. Located at the end of the breakwater on Porthcawl Point in Porthcawl, at the eastern entrance to Swansea Bay."

See, I told you it was near Swansea.

Now, about those waves:

More waves, and a couple of pictures of the lighthouse itself, appear below.

The first one accompanied this article:  Remembering the days Wales' iconic Porthcawl Lighthouse was kept lit by coins fed into a meter

Surf's up.