First, as we approach the end of the month of November here are some numbers: We are averaging 2.1 degrees below normal. This will be the first month since July below normal in temperatures. Rainfall stands at 4.14” so it looks like it will be near normal and snowfall is 4.5” so we will be a bit below normal.

Meanwhile, I’m having a little fun weekday mornings this winter with the morning team of Kathy Rowe and Marne Mason over at Y94. I provide the forecasts for them each day and Monday through Friday I’m on Live at about 6:20 and 7:20 AM chatting about the weather and other things. They are no big fans of winter weather, especially the snow and they let me know on air (in good fun, of course). Sometimes I think they forget this is Syracuse and we can get snow ;)  Earlier this fall when I mentioned ‘lake effect’ for the first time they likened it to a swear word and that every time I used the phrase I would have to put a quarter in the swear jar.

After a few weeks of this I said lets make it interesting. Let’s keep track of the number of times I say ‘lake effect’ during my chats with them over the course of the winter then donate that money to a charity.  They said great and the good folks at Clear Channel radio decided to match that number.

The charity we are going to donate to is the local Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  I worked on their board of trustees a few years back and have helped with some of their fund raising activities such as the Light The Night Walk, the Eric Dahn Memorial Golf Tournament and others.  They do a great job of raising awareness about the blood cancers and the money raised goes to patient services as well as research to find cures. Check out their web site    

So here we go, lets make a positive out of what some people think of as a negative. As of today I’m up to 4 dollars but it’s not even December and this is Central New York. In fact, the lake effect should become rather active the next couple of days.  Make sure you check out Dave Longley’s blog from earlier Wednesday.